Maria's Adventure's: Disney Kingdom
by FourthWallBreaker
Summary: Before Khrista was kidnapped, another girl was taken on a wild ride through worlds. Join Maria in her debut as a World Jumper as she and her sister go on a bit of a test run thanks to a certain fat cat... Is actually an Atlantis/Treasure planet/ KH Crossover
1. Prologue

Prologue

It had been a few months since I'd first started to receive Khrista's stories from Scribe (most of which I'm still working on) when Scribe had appeared with something new in hand.

"Here, Nexus," she stated one summer afternoon, dropping a thick, red notebook on my bed. "This is another one of the people I've been following."

"Careful," I remarked cockily, putting the notebook I was working with to one side. "You could be turning into a stalker."

Scribe snorted. "Ha ha, very funny. I'm just doing my job, Nexus."

I gave the floating girl an odd look. "And would you stop calling me Nexus?" I asked, grabbing the new notebook (which may as well have been a one-inch binder, considering its width). "You know that's not my real name."

"I know," Scribe responded carelessly. "But I like Nexus better."

I started to page through the notebook, asking, "So, who is it this time?"

"A girl named Maria," Scribe explained. "She's quite knowledgeable about the worlds she has visited, and has run into quite a few dimensional hitches."

I gave my friend a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Scribe chuckled. "It would ruin the story if I told you, wouldn't it? Just look at my notes to find out." She frowned slightly. "Although, it is kind of odd, considering how quickly she adjusted to the whole idea of going from one world to the next." She shrugged. "I'll be back later with more for you to write to your heart's content!" With that, she disappeared, leaving me with a thick notebook, and a decision: continue with the Khrista Chronicles, or start this new mess?

Well, as you can see, I decided to start this mess, and now I've got two stories running at once. Great.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Maria was sleeping soundly, not a care in the world. Below her in the lower bunk, Liz was sleeping, as well. Neither of them noticed the large, round figure that squeezed through the door into their room. The creature looked at them with interest, his small, short ears up.

He looked at the 16-year-old sleeping in the top bunk, her light brown hair seeming to be shining slightly because of the light coming out of the closet. He also noticed the slight athletic build on her. Maria, however, was so deep in her sleep that she didn't notice the cat-like face observing her.

The creature looked at the girl on the lower bunk, taking note of the darker hair and seemingly smaller build. He deemed her to be a 13-year-old, and most likely the other girl's sister. Of course, the creature wasn't off the mark at all.

Suddenly, Maria stirred. The creature hurriedly looked around for a hiding place and dove into a wardrobe.

Maria sat up, looking around for whatever it was that had woken her, blue eyes alert. Climbing down the ladder in her blue T-shirt and shorts, she hissed, "Liz!"

Liz opened her blue eyes, her face forming a scowl. "What?" she demanded.

"I think there's someone in our room," Maria replied. She grabbed her red and black glasses off a bookshelf.

"It's probably just the cat," her sister muttered.

"I doubt it. The presence feels malicious."

Liz got out of her bed in purple pjs identical to Maria's and opened her wardrobe. "You probably just had a bad dream." She took out her lavender glasses and looked around. "Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary." She started to take her glasses off again when she noticed what the time was. "Huh. Six. Guess it's time we got up, anyway." She flipped the room's light switch.

They quickly slipped into respective outfits they had left out the day before: Maria now wore a red T-shirt and jeans with white shoes that had red stripes, and Liz was in the same outfit, but with a purple shirt instead, and her shoes had dark blue stripes.

Maria started going through a pile of clothes in the corner of the room. "I don't see my orange jacket in here," she noted.

"It's probably in your wardrobe," Liz said as she put on a white jacket. "I don't think you really need it. How warm is it out there?"

"Something like fifty degrees," Maria replied. "A bit too cold for just a short-sleeved shirt and jeans, if you ask me."

"Here," came a muffled voice from Maria's wardrobe. "Is this what you're looking for?" A large hand in a black glove came out, holding the item of clothing Maria was looking for.

"Thanks!" Maria said, grabbing her jacket. She started to put it on, then slowed down slightly as she realized what had just occurred. "Who's in my wardrobe?" She opened the door wide, revealing a large animal with a big chin, big eyes, and short, pointy ears. It was also wearing some sort of red-and-blue outfit.

Maria blinked a couple times, getting a good look at the creature. Then she let out a gasp. "You!"

"What about me?" the creature retorted.

"You're..Pete!"

Liz looked over and let out a squeal. "What's _he _doing in your closet? I thought he was just supposed to be a cartoon!"

"So did I!" Maria replied. "And he's in the same getup as the one in those cutscenes we've been watching..." She started to back up to the door. "I think I'll go warn the boys."

Pete looked panicked, then angry. "Oh no, you don't! Yer comin' with me!" He quickly grabbed the two girls and opened up some sort of black portal. Pete then stepped into the portal, carrying one girl in each arm, both struggling to get free.

"Let us GO!" Maria yelled.

"Fat chance," Pete replied as he ran through some sort of corridor. "You two saw me, so you won't be tellin' nobody about my bein' in your world. So you're coming to mine."

"Grr," Liz growled. "You meanie!"

"I ain't mean," Pete replied as if the insult were nothing. "Just wait 'till you meet my boss!"

The two girls looked at each other across Pete's belly. Neither had any real idea what he meant.

Just as they emerged through a portal at the other side of the strange corridor, Pete shouted, "I'm baaack!" The portal then closed, much to the horror of the girls.

"About time," said a cold voice. Maria's head turned to see a tall woman in a black robe coming down some stone stairs. She carried a tall, black staff with a green orb on the top, and she wore what seemed to be ram horns on her head.

Maria took in a quick breath. "No, way. This can't be happening..."

Liz glared at the figure with dark intent. "It seems like it is."

Pete unceremoniously dropped the two girls. "You were right! There _are _other worlds out there. I found myself in a small house, and discovered these two kids. Surprisingly, they recognized me."

"Of course we recognized you!" Maria snapped as she got up. "You're Mickey's archenemy."

"Do you recognize me, then?" the woman inquired.

"Well, duh! Of course we recognize you," Liz snapped as she got up. "You're Malificent!"

"Correct," Malificent replied. "Now, pray tell, what are your names?"

"I don't know if we should tell you, old lady," Maria replied haughtily.

"Yeah!" Liz agreed.

Malificent glared at the two girls while Pete nervously backed away, obviously expecting something.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" Malificent roared, blasting them with some of her magic.

The two girls screamed in agony, then fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Malificent, still burning with anger, turned to Pete and said, "Take these two to the empty cell. Watch them, and report to me if they wake."

Pete moved to grab the children, and was surprised to find Maria staring into space.

"Kingdom Hearts...is...real," she murmured before blacking out.

Pete frowned. He didn't have any idea what that meant, but he supposed he'd just have to ask her when she woke up. Picking up the two girls, he lumbered off for the cell Malificent had mentioned. He kept the information to himself, thinking that his boss hadn't heard him.

But Malificent _had_ heard what the girl had said. _Hmmm. Interesting. But what could the child mean? I already know that Kingdom Hearts exists. Perhaps she is referring to something else?_ The sorceress turned and walked to her sleeping chambers, preparing to turn in.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Liz let out a moan and got up, rubbing her head. "Ugh. What's with this stupid headache?" she started muttering angrily as she looked about. Recalling what had happened to cause her headache, she jumped up upon finding herself in a cell. Spotting Pete through the door's barred window, she exclaimed, "You! What did Malificent do to me and my sister? And where are we?"

Pete looked at her. "Well, that's one of the two brats. Now I gotta wait for the other one to wake up."

Liz frowned. "Other one...?" She looked next to her, discovering that Maria was leaning against a wall with half-closed eyes.

"Maria!" Liz hissed. "Wake up!"

Her sister didn't move.

Liz kneeled on the floor and started to shake her. "Maria!" Her sister didn't respond. "What's wrong with you? WAKE UP!" When her sister refused to answer, Liz did a double face palm. "Uhhhhh!"

Pete watched her, curious. "You're sister is named Maria?"

Liz looked up at him with an intense glare that could have probably burned the door. "Yeah. You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all," Pete said hurriedly. "What're you called?"

"We told you earlier, it's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Liz jutted her arm out, causing a sword that looked like water to appear. Then she slammed the ground with the weapon, causing a flash of light. Then a portal appeared beneath her, and she vanished.

Pete's eyes widened in surprise. Then he opened the door and jumped over the portal, pulling Maria's limp body away from it just as the portal closed.

"Malificent is going to be real mad when she hears about this," he muttered.

"Hear about what?" asked a cold voice.

**Line Break. Ignore me and move on.**

Liz shook her head as a second headache rattled her brain. "Man, this day just keeps getting better and better," she muttered sarcastically. After the sword vanished, she looked around, noting that she was in some sort of alley. "Am I back on Earth?"

Just then, someone tall with brown hair rushed into the alley. Liz looked up at him, observing the black leather jacket, white shirt, and jeans the figure was wearing. Then she noticed the sword he gripped tightly, recognizing it immediately.

"Leon!" she exclaimed. "Am I glad to see you!"

"Have I run into you before?" Leon asked as he looked at the girl kneeling in front of him.

"No," Liz replied. "No you haven't. Listen, I need to contact Sora immediately."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So, you're telling me that you and your sister came from another world and you guys ran into Malificent, who cast some sort of spell on your sister," a girl with black hair stated.

Liz nodded. "That's right, Yuffie. Now hurry up and contact Sora."

"It isn't that easy," Leon warned. "We can't just send a signal when we don't really know where he is."

"Fine. Then I'll find him myself."

Liz started to walk out, but Yuffie stopped her.

"Hold on. You don't know what's out there."

Liz looked at her. "Is there anything out there besides Heartless and Nobodies?"

"Xehanort," Leon pointed out. "Tell me again - where did you learn all this?"

"I didn't tell you before," Liz retorted. "Let's just say that I know a lot. Look, is there a way to contact Sora or his friends? Riku or Kairi would do just as well right about now, but Sora would be best."

Leon and Yuffie looked at each other. "Let's try the Mysterious Tower," Yuffie said at last. "Yen Sid might know where he is." She looked at Liz. "But no running off, O.K.?"

Liz nodded begrudgingly. "Sure."

Leon turned to the computer behind him and started to type in a few numbers. Grabbing a microphone, he said, "This is Radiant Garden to Mysterious Tower. Is anyone there?"

There was something that sounded like a chuckle from the speakers. "Hey there, Leon! This is Goofy! What can we do for ya?"

"There's this girl here," Leon replied. "I haven't met her before in my life, but she somehow knows me. The kid claims to have come from another world with her sister, who's being held captive by Malificent."

"Gwarsh, that sounds really bad! What's her name?"

"Liz."

"Ya mind if I can talk to her?"

"Sure." Leon handed the microphone to Liz, who took it in her left hand.

"Hi, Goofy!" Liz greeted. "I'm Liz."

"It's nice to meet you, Liz," Goofy replied. "You mind tellin' me what happened?"

"Well, when Maria and I woke up this morning, Pete was hiding in Maria's closet. We were about to warn everyone in the house when Pete grabbed us and took us from our world into Mailificent's. Once we'd met the witch and made her mad, I kinda blacked out. When I came to, my sister and I were in a cell, and Maria was still out of it. I tried to wake her up, but nothing worked. I'm not quite sure what happened next, but I summoned a sword and slammed the ground with it. Next thing I knew, a portal had appeared under my feet and I get teleported to Radiant Garden."

"Gwarsh! That's some story," Goofy remarked. "I suppose you wanna go back and rescue your sister?"

"That's right," Liz confirmed. "I was hoping to get Sora's help."

"Well, Sora's off trainin' for the Mark of Mastery Exam, and we don't know where he is. But Master Yen Sid might. Hold on; I'm gonna go get him."

Liz had to wait for about a minute and a half before Yen Sid's voice came over the speaker system.

"You are Liz, yes?"

"Yup," Liz replied.

"Goofy told me what has occurred. Do you think you can summon that sword again?"

"I think so," Liz replied. She stretched out her right arm, and the watery sword appeared in her right hand, becoming a double-edged, aquamarine sword with a bit of a lightning-bolt design near the hilt. "Yup; I've got it right now."

"Describe it."

"It kinda looks like a blue sword at this point."

"Hmmm... Liz, I want you to concentrate solely on my tower, then summon a portal. Can you do that?"

"I'll try."

Liz closed her eyes and pictured the Mysterious Tower, then concentrated on Yen Sid's study. When she opened her eyes, there was a white portal right in front of her, at which Yuffie and Leon were staring in surprise.

Liz smirked. "See you guys later," she said as she stepped through the portal.

**Line Break. Ignore me and move on.**

Goofy jumped in surprise as Liz stepped out of the portal, which promptly vanished behind her, and into Yen Sid's study.

"I haven't seen anyone do that before," Goofy remarked.

Liz grinned. "I'm not just anyone, Goofy."

Yen Sid looked the child over from behind his desk, observing the determination in her eyes. "So, you are the child who escaped from Malificent."

"That's me!" Liz replied proudly. "But we still gotta rescue my sister, Maria."

A white duck wearing a magician's outfit barged into the study, followed by a girl with dark red hair that ended at her shoulders.

"Who're you?" the duck demanded. "Are you the intruder I sensed with my magic?"

Liz glared at the duck. "The name's Liz, Donald. Yen Sid invited me here."

"How do you know Donald's name?" the red haired girl asked.

"Long story, Kairi," Liz replied. "Listen, I've got a sister to rescue from Malificent and I'll probably need all the help I can get."

"Now, hold on," Goofy said. "You can't just expect us to help. What if you're working for Malificent?"

"Yeah!" Donald butted in.

Liz shrugged. "Fine. Test me, then. Ask me something Malificent wouldn't know, but you guys do."

Donald and Goofy looked at each other, then started to argue about what to ask. Neither noticed that Kairi was watching Liz.

"What is Sora's Nobody's name?" Kairi asked over the argument of Donald and Goofy.

"Roxas," Liz fired off without a second thought. "And your Nobody is Namine."

Donald and Goofy stopped arguing and looked at her in surprise.

Kairi was also speechless. "How did you -"

"Long story," Liz repeated from earlier. "I'll tell you later."

"I believe it would be easier to trust you if you would tell us," Yen Sid said simply.

Liz adapted an annoyed look. "Fine. In our world, we can watch events in other worlds through TV shows, video games, and comic books. There's this series of video games collectively known as 'Kingdom Hearts,' and it follows the events that you have lived through so far. For instance, the most recent game that came out was 'Dream Drop Distance,' and it revealed the events concerning Riku's and Sora's Mark of Mastery Exam."

Donald stared at her in astonishment, then folded his arms. "I'm not sure I believe you."

"Would you believe me if I said that Daisy is likely to ground you when all this is said and done with?"

Donald blushed deeply at the mention of Daisy.

Kairi looked confused. "Daisy? Who's Daisy?"

"Donald's sweetheart," Goofy replied innocently.

"What's going on here?" a voice asked. Everyone turned to look as a mouse came in, followed by a boy with silver hair.

"King Mickey!" Donald exclaimed. He and Goofy saluted as the mouse stopped in front of Yen Sid.

"We have a guest, Your Majesty," Goofy added, motioning in Liz's direction.

Mickey walked over to Liz. "Hiya! Name's Mickey."

"I'm Liz," Liz replied.

Mickey noticed the sword Liz was holding. "What's this?" he asked, moving to get a better look at the weapon in her possession.

Liz shrugged. "It's just a sword. I used it to open a portal to get here."

Mickey frowned. "It doesn't look like a Keyblade." He looked at Yen Sid. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

Yen Sid nodded. "Yes. It has been far too long since I have seen such a blade."

Liz frowned, curious. "What do you mean?"

"That blade you hold is a mystic's blade, and is just as rare as a Keyblade." Yen Sid stroked his beard, considering what this might mean. "Your sister might have one, as well."

"Then we have to go and rescue Maria now!" Liz snapped.

"I'll go."

Everyone turned to look at the silver-haired boy.

"Master Riku, are you sure?" Mickey asked.

Riku nodded. "Better than sending Kairi out, and we don't know where Sora went. Also, Lea is worse than Kairi."

"Hey!" exclaimed an indignant voice from the door of the study. A young man with spiky red hair and in a black robe stood in the doorway, glaring at them all. "Take that back, Riku!"

"He's a Keyblade Master, Lea," Kairi pointed out. "You and I are only beginners. Come on; let's get back to training."

Lea pointedly glared at Riku, then reluctantly left with Kairi.

Riku looked at Liz. "I would appreciate an explanation."

Liz sighed, then started, "Maria woke me up this morning, thinking that there was someone in our room..."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"YOU IMBECILE!" Malificent roared at Pete. "You should have gone after her!"

"Like I was going to let _her_ get away!" Pete retorted as he motioned to the as-of-yet-unconcious Maria sitting on the floor. "She was about to fall into the portal that other kid had opened."

"Sora was right to call you a hag," said a voice.

Malificent bristled, thinking Pete had said it.

Pete, who had also heard the voice, held up his hands in defense. "That wasn't me!"

Malificent frowned. "Then who dares to insult me?"

"The one who sleeps, yet is not asleep," replied the voice.

Malificent and Pete looked at Maria.

"You're conscious?" Malificent inquired.

"Partly," the girl replied.

"What is your name?" Malificent asked.

"What...is your quest?" the girl retorted in a raspy voice. "What...is your favorite color?"

The two villains stared at her, dumbfounded.

Pete snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah! I remember the other girl called this one 'Maria'."

Malificent lifted Maria up with her magic. "Tell me, Maria," she said, "why are you like this?"

"You. The spell. Internal turmoil. I'm basically sleep-talking."

Pete grinned. "Does that mean you'll answer whatever questions we ask?"

"Those that my subconscious will allow."

Malificent gave a small smile. "Tell me, Maria, what did you mean by 'Kingdom Hearts is real'?"

"V...video...ga...games," Maria managed. Her half-closed eyelids twitched.

Pete looked nervous. "I think she's waking up, Malificent," he warned.

"I can see that, you fool," Malificent replied dryly. She looked back at Maria. "Are you aware of what goes on here, child?"

"Yes."

That one word was so definite that it surprised Pete.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I know that you plan on taking over all the worlds with the Heartless, and that Sora's gonna kick your sorry behinds." Maria's eyelids twitched again.

Now Malificent was fuming. "Do you really think we're that easy to beat?!"

"Yes, yes I do."

Pete started to slowly back away.

"Light always beats the darkness," Maria continued. "Therefore, you will always be defeated in the end."

Malificent looked like she was about to transform into her dragon form when Pete protested, "She's our only connection to that other world right now! Are you sure you wanna do that?"

Malificent paused, observing the half-asleep girl. "No," she said finally. She looked at Pete. "Prepare the Heartless. If her sister managed to find friends, she is sure to come back."

Pete saluted. "Right! On my way." He lumbered off to summon the Heartless to crowd the battlements.

Malificent looked at Maria darkly. "Now that the buffoon is out of the way, let's try a different question: Are there worlds out there that I don't know about?"

"Well, sure! You didn't figure out about my place until today." Maria's left foot twitched.

"Are they...easy to conquer?"

"Depends."

Malificent frowned. "On what?"

"On what you'll find and if you can actually get there." Maria's right foot twitched. "Pete's intrusion in my home was dumb luck. He doesn't belong there, and neither do you."

Malificent looked annoyed. "All worlds will belong to me, child! It is my destiny."

"That's what the Keyblade wielders in the past thought."

"Hmm?"

"Look into the Keyblade Graveyard. That's what happens to people when they try to take over - they die." Maria's left arm twitched.

Malificent looked curious. "Keyblade Graveyard? Ah, yes! The place where the Keyblade Wars took place, correct?"

"Right. Many unusable keys reside there, having lost their power when their masters died. So don't get any ideas."

Pete ran back into the room. "We're bein' attacked!"

"WHAT?!" Malificent roared. "By whom?"

"That Riku kid, Donald, Goofy - "

"Sora?!"

Pete shook his head. "That girl from before. The one that escaped."

Malificent smiled mischievously. "Are the Heartless attacking them?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Supplement them with the demon minions under my command. I must get more information out of her."

Pete saluted, then ran out.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Take THAT!" Liz shouted, slashing through a Heartless. "And that!" she added, taking down two more.

Riku watched the team's new asset carefully. Her zeal was certainly something she used to her advantage. But those moves! It was as if Liz had been training all her life! However, she herself had said when they had reached Malificent's mountain that she had little to no experience in combat. Yet, here she was, slaying Heartless.

Liz took a couple steps forward on the mountain path, sticking her sword into an especially large Heartless dressed like a knight. "Is there any end to these things?" she demanded.

"Well we are attacking a leader of the Heartless," Goofy pointed out as he bashed his shield on a Heartless' head. "It'll take a long time to get into her castle."

Donald sent a wave of magic into the crowd of Heartless ahead of them. "Just keep driving them back! We'll reach her castle." He pointed to the dark citadel ahead of them.

"Maybe, if I make a portal and get us in that way -" Liz started.

"NO!" Donald and Riku said together.

"Yen Sid said your magic would alert her of our presence," Goofy added.

"If the Heartless are out, you'd think she already knows," Liz grumbled. She chopped off the head of an Arabian Heartless. "Man, these guys are coming from all over the worlds."

"You said it!" Donald agreed as he whacked a knight Heartless.

Riku took out two more Heartless, then jumped onto a rock nearby and jumped to another rock, taking out more Heartless. "Now you!" Riku told Liz as he jumped to another boulder, taking out more Heartless on the way.

Liz jumped up onto the rock Riku had started on, surprised that she was able to keep herself balanced there. Then she leapt for the next boulder in her path, swinging her blade a few times to take out as many Heartless as she could. She and Riku continued to do this while Goofy and Donald followed behind, taking out any Heartless the two may have missed. Eventually the group reached the drawbridge of Malificent's castle, which was up.

Liz leapt off her rock. "Look for a lever or something," she suggested. "There's gotta be a way to get in there."

"Uh, I don't think we'll need to worry about that," Goofy said as he pointed at the drawbridge, which had started to come down.

As the drawbridge crashed on the ground, small creatures armed with spears and maces charged forward, snorting and laughing maniacally.

"Malificent's minions!" Liz exclaimed.

"I thought the Heartless were her minions," Riku remarked.

"These were her first minions - before the Heartless, and during the Unversed attacks."

"Unversed?" Riku repeated.

"I'll explain when we get back."

On instinct, Liz grabbed hold of a chain link with her left hand and swung up, adopting a pose that a pirate might, hanging onto a rope ladder with one hand and both feet. After moving her right hand down the leather hilt and almost onto the purple, dragon-shaped jewel on the pommel. Then she swung the sword, taking out one of the pig-snouted demons. To her surprise, the creature vanished in black smoke.

"Huh. So these creatures are made of darkness, too," she noted. Liz started slicing more, and every time her sword came in contact with a pig-demon minion. It dissolved into darkness and vanished.

Riku took note of what Liz was doing and experimentally hit one of the minions with his Keyblade. Like with Liz, the creature vanished.

"These guys must be a different version of Heartless!" Goofy remarked. One of the creatures ran up to him, swinging its mace, but the club bounced off Goofy's shield and the pig-demon hit itself on the head. The creature then vanished.

Donald chuckled. "These guys aren't so hard," he remarked. In front of him was what looked like a long line of the pig demons. Every time one ran forward, Donald would bonk it on the head, dissolving it. The duck looked like he was enjoying himself.

Liz slashed through five at once and slapped a sixth with the flat of her blade. "At this rate, though, we'll probably be inside in an hour, with all of these Heartless."

Donald frowned for a moment. Then the Mickey symbol on the top of his staff started glowing. He moved it from left to right quickly, sending out a wave of magic that destroyed the pig-demon Heartless.

Liz leapt off the chain. "Nice, Donald! How often can you do that?"

"He used to use it a lot when he got mad at Pete," Goofy explained.

Liz grinned. "Now we can go rescue my sister!" She dashed across the drawbridge, followed by Donald, Goofy, and Riku.

As they ran through the corridors, scenes from _Sleeping Beauty_ went through Liz's head, directing her to the cell she and her sister had been trapped in.

When they got there, however, the cell door was open, and the room itself was empty.

Liz looked panicked. "Oh, great! What are we going to do now?"

"We could search the castle," Goofy suggested.

"That won't be necessary," a voice said coldly. Everyone turned to see Malificent standing calmly behind them. Beside her, suspended in a green ball of magic, Maria floated limply, her limbs twitching occasionally.

Liz let out a growl. "Give me back my sister, witch!"

"I think not," the sorceress replied coolly.

Maria's twitching stopped, and then she started to actually move. Neither Malificent nor the others noticed until there was a loud CRACK!

Maria let out a sigh of relief as she cracked her back. "That's better. Now I can loosen up a bit." she stretched out, causing more bones to "crack" as she flexed her joints. Maria then brushed against the bubble surrounding her with her left hand, and she pulled it back, startled. "That burns!" She looked around, then caught sight of Malificent. "Oh. It's you."

Had the situation not been so dangerous, Liz probably would have laughed.

Maria crossed her arms and gave Malificent an annoyed look, tapping her right foot midair. "I don't suppose you're going to let me down, witch?"

Malificent glared back. "No."

Maria uncrossed her arms, reached down to her legs, and placed herself in a crossed leg sitting position. "Even if you have my very angry sister standing right in front of you?"

By now, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Liz had spread themselves out so that they surrounded Malificent and Maria. And Liz, contrary to what Maria had said, was behind Malificent, and there was no one in front of her.

"Hah!" Liz exclaimed, running forward. She sliced through the bubble of magic with ease, sending Maria crashing to the floor.

"OW!" Maria exclaimed. She got up, rubbing her backside as she did so. "Try giving me more of a warning next time."

"I did give you a warning," Liz snapped. "Now MOVE, unless you want to end up killed by Malificent!"

Maria got the message and scooted away from the sorceress before the place where she had been got blasted by magic.

"Yeesh! Attack the one without the weapon, will ya?" Maria demanded from behind Liz. She whispered in her sister's ear, "Where'd you get that sword?"

"When I escaped," Liz explained. "I came back to get you."

"Thanks. But why didn't you take me with you?"

"Too heavy. Besides, you were unconscious until a couple seconds ago."

"Half. I was half conscious. And I think she got a little bit of a conversation out of me."

Liz looked at her sister, confused. "What are you saying?"

"I _do_ talk in my sleep. I don't know what I said, but judging by the look on her face, some of it probably wasn't nice."

"Hey!" Donald barked. "You can talk with her later! Let's take down Malificent and get out of here!"

Liz and Maria looked at Malificent, who was cloaking herself in green flames.

"Heartless!" she called. "To me!"

Instantly, the dark creatures began to come out of the ground, ready to attack anyone Malificent wanted.

Maria gulped, eyes wide. "So many..."

"You should've seen what we fought to get here," Liz replied with a grin. She leapt at the nearest Heartless and slashed it in half. "Just stay back and let us do the fighting."

Maria nodded, speechless, and jumped back as a Heartless tried to lunge at her, only to be taken out by Liz. Then more started coming, and it ended up being Maria defended by Liz.

Maria looked on, helpless to actually try and defend herself from the Heartless by herself. She was truly amazed by what her sister was doing, and hoped that she could eventually help her, like the heroes in the video games did.

Suddenly, off to one side, Maria noticed an especially large Heartless coming toward Liz, who was busy fighting other Heartless. A defensive instinct then arose within Maria, and she moved between Liz and the monster. She started growling, and a long, fiery shape appeared in her hands.

"Keep away from my sister!" Maria roared, slashing the Heartless.

Liz looked at her in surprise. "Nice!"

In Maria's hands was a red staff about as high as Malificent's, but instead of a green orb clutched in a claw at the top, Maria's had a phoenix head.

Maria looked at the staff in surprise. "Huh. Wasn't expecting that to happen. I wonder why it isn't a sword like yours?" She shrugged. "Ah, well. At least I have something to fight with." Maria threw herself at a horde of Heartless, swinging her staff like it was an elongated club.

Donald caught sight of the staff in Maria's hands. "Where did that come from?" he demanded.

"How should I know?" Maria retorted as she whacked three Heartless. "All I know is that it's a weapon and I can take out the Heartless with it!" She spun in a circle, taking out more Heartless while holding onto the staff's base.

Riku watched the girl, taking note that her fighting style seemed to show much more inexperience than Liz's. Still, the fact that she was taking out Heartless was decent enough.

Donald made his way over to Maria, taking out Heartless along the way. "You don't know how to use that thing properly, do you?" he asked, motioning to the staff.

"What do you mean by that?" Maria asked.

"That's a mystic's staff. You can send out long-range attacks, like this!" Donald raised his staff and a large amount of Heartless were zapped with lightning-strikes. "Or this!" A blizzard blew in and froze some of the Heartless, which broke apart soon after.

Maria grinned. "So I'm a mystic, huh? That's cool."

Donald looked at her. "How about _you_ try to cast a spell?"

Maria looked at her staff, with which she was still whacking Heartless, then at the Heartless themselves. "What should I do?" she asked, looking back at Donald.

"Concentrate your magic inside you, then let it out through your staff!"

Maria nodded. "O.K; I'll give it a try." She lifted the staff up, phoenix head first, and imagined that she was gathering some sort of force together inside her. The staff reacted immediately as the phoenix head started glowing in response to the pressure Maria felt start to rise in her chest.

As the Heartless began to creep closer, Maria imagined that the power was going through her arms and into the staff, from which it could exit as some sort of attack on the dark creatures.

The staff's response was to send it an electric attack like the one Donald had used a moment before. It spread out, first as a protective shield around her and Donald, then thrusting out like it wanted to become a giant tent, taking out Heartless along the way. Once the magic had reached a certain point, the electricity vanished.

Maria blinked in surprise. "Wow. I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen." She looked at Donald. "Is there a name for that move?"

Donald shrugged. "I'm as clueless as you are."

"Maybe we should call it a lightning shield or something," Goofy suggested.

Maria shrugged. "I'll come up with a name when we get out of here." She looked around, noticing that the number of Heartless had greatly decreased. "Man, if they're almost gone, Malificent probably has a backup plan in mind."

Sure enough, Malificent had coated herself in green flames again.

"You will PAY for your ignorance, child!" she roared as she started to transform.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liz demanded.

The others shrugged.

"Maybe it's that whole controlling the worlds thing she keeps ranting about..." Maria muttered.

Malificent continued to transform, growing in size and shape as the familiar dragon shape overcame her human form. Now, in the place of the sorceress, stood a giant, four-legged black dragon, complete with wings and a green belly.

The dragon laughed manically. "You cannot defeat me in my domain!"

"Try saying that again when your castle crumbles around you!" Riku snapped back. He ran forward, Keyblade in hand.

"We're right behind you, Riku!" Goofy called out. He ran after the Keyblade Master, shield out. The others followed.

"So, where'd you go?" Maria asked Liz as they ran side by side.

"Radiant Garden," Liz replied with a grin. "Leon found me."

"Really? Cool."

In front of them, Malificent was firing green flames in Riku's direction, but Goofy blocked them with his shield. Donald fired a blast of blizzard magic at the giant lizard, coating her front left leg in ice.

"Wanna bet the ice just weakened her leg?" Maria inquired.

The ice cracked and feel off in shards, reminding Maria that Malificent was coated in scales and probably impervious to such attacks.

"Maybe we can fight fire with fire," Liz suggested. "Think you could hit her with a fire blast or something?"

"Maybe," Maria muttered. She concentrated the magic together in her, then released it into the staff while aiming at Malificent's open mouth.

The dragon was distracted by Riku, Donald, and Goofy, so she didn't notice what Maria had unleashed until a blast of blizzard magic went down her throat.

"That wasn't fire magic!" Liz exclaimed.

"Don't you think I know that?" Maria growled. She looked at the dragon, who had started to shiver a little bit. "It looks like it did something, though." She looked at Donald, who was standing a couple feet in front of her. "Do dragons like this one normally have weaknesses?"

"Usually you have to aim at their heart," the duck replied. "It's like there's a hole in their scales or something. Why?"

Maria and Liz looked at each other.

"Well, we've heard that some dragons have weak insides..." Maria trailed off as she looked meaningfully at the shivering dragon. "She's probably wise to an attack like that, so let's take a chance and start looking for that weak spot in the armor." She ran over to the front right leg and brought the staff down hard on one of the claws, hoping to break it off.

"It won't work that way," Liz said, running over. "Allow me." She raised her sword and brought it down on the claw Maria had attacked, slicing it clean off. "There. I'll take care of the rest of them. You try and find that weak spot with your magic."

Maria nodded and concentrated the magic together again, then sent it out with the thought of finding a weak spot on the dragon. The magic came out in a yellow mist, which settled on Malificent's claws, around her eyes, and around her nostrils.

"Hah!" Maria exclaimed. "You see that, Donald?"

The duck nodded. "Riku! Try and aim for the eyes!"

Riku nodded, then leapt up onto one of the dragon's scaly arms. Malificent tried to shake him off, but the Keyblade Master had too good of a grip on her scales.

Maria decided to try and keep the dragon's attention off Riku. Running right in front of the dragon, she hollered, "Hey, Lizard-Lips!"

Malificent turned her head and glowered at the girl before her.

"What're you doing?!" Donald asked. "You could get yourself killed!"

Maria ignored him. "You make a bad villain, you know that?" she called to the dragon. "To lose your temper like that just isn't the way to go. You wouldn't last a second as a leader of all worlds."

The dragon roared in annoyance at this statement. She released a blast of green fire at Maria, who somehow managed to bring up the electric shield from before to deflect it.

"Man, you are one sore loser," Liz remarked, catching onto what Maria was doing.

Riku then leapt onto the back of Malificent's head and slid onto the bridge of what would be her snout. Then he took his Keyblade and stabbed the dragon's right eye.

Malificent let out a roar of pain and tried to slash at Riku with the claws on her front right foot, but Liz had managed to cut them all off, much to the dragon's dismay.

Liz grinned. "Heh. You had it coming, Malificent!"

Riku managed to pull his Keyblade out of Malificent's right eye, bringing along a large amount of some sort of transparent liquid, then stabbed the weapon into her left eye, making the dragon blind.

"Gross!" Maria exclaimed upon seeing the strange liquid coming out of both eyes. "And I thought the cow eye dissection in biology was bad!"

Malificent's head turned sharply at the sound of Maria's voice. She opened her gigantic maw and fired a blast of green flame in the girl's direction.

"She must have good hearing," Maria muttered to herself.

"Or you're just plain loud," Liz pointed out.

"That too."

Liz glared up at the dragon, then started to concentrate a power in her chest. The sword responded, glowing a deep purple, then releasing a blast of fire magic at the dragon, who happened to have her mouth open again as she roared at Goofy.

"Nice one!" Maria exclaimed.

Liz grinned at her sister. "Thanks."

The two girls looked back at Malificent, who was letting out streams of smoke rather than green fire.

"You must've put out her fire, Liz," Goofy remarked. "Now we might have an easier time taking her down."

Riku nodded his approval. "Good timing." He ran under the dragon, followed by Liz and Maria. They stopped when they saw a hole in the scales.

"That must be the place she got struck in the last two times she was in this form," Maria said.

"Thank you for stating the obvious!" Liz said sarcastically.

"Two times?" Riku asked. "As far as I'm aware of, she's become a dragon only once."

"The first time happened before Aurora, the Princess of Heart around here, was captured," Maria explained.

"So, you know about _them_, too?"

The three turned to see Malificent's giant dragon head staring at them upside-down - even if she couldn't exactly _see _them.

"Riku - quickly!" Maria hissed. "Take her out - put your Keyblade where her heart is!" She pointed at the hole in the scales.

Riku nodded and leapt up, jabbing his Keyblade into the hole.

Malificent's body reacted instantly, releasing a flash of green from the hole as Riku removed his weapon. Everyone ran as the dragon reared back, roaring loudly as the green flash consumed her. When the light faded, all that was left was a smear in the stones where she had been rearing back.

"Wow..." Maria said. "Never expected her to end like that." She looked at Riku. "The past few times, it's been a white flash, or falling back into a crevice or something."

Riku looked Maria and Liz over again. "You two know more than you seem to."

Liz grinned. "I account it to all the video games we've played."

"Or watched being played," Maria added, grinning nervously.

"Maybe we should head back before we discuss this further," Riku suggested.

Maria looked confused. "Head back where?"

"Mysterious Tower," Liz replied with a grin.

Maria's eyes widened. "Really? That's so cool! I'll actually get to meet Yen Sid!"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Maria looked Liz in amazement as they stepped out of a portal of her creation and into Yen Sid's study. "How did you _do_ that?" she asked in awe.

Liz shrugged. "How did you manage to fire off those blasts of magic?"

"Touché."

Donald and Goofy saluted the magician before them as the portal closed behind them. "We've managed to rescue Maria and destroy Malificent!" Goofy reported.

Yen Sid nodded. "I thought I'd sensed such a thing happening before you returned." He looked at Maria, taking note of her staff. "I suppose you are Maria, yes?"

Maria nodded. "That's right, Yen Sid. It's an honor to meet you."

"Likewise," the magician replied.

Maria looked surprised. "Why? I'm not as famous as you are."

"But that weapon you hold makes you so," Yen Sid explained.

Maria looked at the staff in surprise. "What, this?"

The magician nodded. "Your sister has one, as well."

Liz frowned, looking at her sword. "This isn't anything like Maria's."

Maria frowned, glaring at the staff, which turned into flames and began to shrink and sharpen. When the flames were gone, Maria was holding onto a scimitar, a pirate's blade, complete with a double edge, bright red hilt, and a jewel as red as phoenix feathers.

Maria blinked in surprise. "Cool. Wasn't expecting a blade like that, but it'll do." She looked at Liz. "Wanna bet yours can do this, too?"

Liz glared at her blade, which became watery and lengthened, straightening out the lightning-shaped bend in the blade. When the weapon became solid, Liz was holding a purple staff much like Maria's red one, only instead of a phoenix head at the top, she had the head of a light blue dragon.

Liz nodded in approval. "This I like." the two girls looked at Yen Sid. "So, I guess we could head back home, now," Liz remarked. "I mean, I rescued my sister from a bad guy, discovered these awesome powers, and made a few friends."

"However, you still owe us an explanation about how you know so much," Riku pointed out.

Maria frowned slightly, her eyes drifting up to the ceiling of the room for a moment. She then stated, "Let me try and explain."

The scimitar quickly became her staff again, and with a wave of it, Maria created a picture of a universe. "You see, on our planet, we have access to different pastimes, such as reading books, watching shows on TV, which is basically like a crystal ball, and playing video games, which involves said TV."

"As I've already mentioned," Liz interrupted, "the worlds you know are part of a game series called 'Kingdom Hearts.'"

Maria nodded. "There are more worlds than the ones you guys have seen, though. The Disney Kingdom has got a lot of space territory."

About a quarter of the picture of the universe glowed a light blue.

"How come only a quarter of the universe is glowing?" Donald asked.

"'Cause there's more kingdoms out there," Liz replied with a grin.

Donald, Goofy, and Riku looked at her in surprise, but Yen Sid simply nodded.

"Please, continue," the magician said calmly.

Maria nodded. "There are the Dreamworks Kingdom, Universal Studios Kingdom, Paramount Kingdom, Warner Brothers, Nintendo, SEGA, and a whole lot of other places that are randomly scattered throughout the rest of the universe. Each kingdom has its own problems, as well as the heroes to take care of them. For instance, the Keyblade Masters are the heroes - and on occasion, villains - who keep things balanced here."

The rest of the picture glowed silver, dark blue, green, gray, yellow, red, purple, and a multitude of other colors. However, the center of the universe remained untouched.

"What's that place?" Donald asked, pointing to the spot that remained uncolored.

"That's Liz's and my home, planet Earth. It's in the middle because those who live there come in contact with all the other kingdoms in one way or another. So it's natural that my sister and I know this kind of stuff."

The center of the universe glowed a bright white, and then the picture vanished.

"That's the most general explanation I can give," Maria finished. "It would probably take a month at most to go through the kingdoms I know the best." She then got her staff to vanish.

"And you do NOT want to get her started," Liz added. "Besides, we have no business going to these other worlds. Maria and I probably shouldn't even _be_ here." She transformed her staff back into a sword and tried to concentrate on their bedroom. "Let's see if I can open a portal to get us home, Maria."

Nothing happened for about a minute.

"Does it usually take this long to summon a portal?" Maria finally asked.

"No!" Liz snapped in reply. "Something must be wrong." She glared at her sword, which vanished.

"Or maybe, Pete bringing you into our kingdom wasn't a coincidence," Goofy remarked. "Maybe we're going to need your help for something."

Maria frowned. "Like what? We've already taken a pretty big villain out of the picture."

"It could be something else..." Riku trailed off. "You know, you haven't explained abut the 'Unversed' that you mentioned, or even what Malificent was taking about when she mentioned how you two knew others."

Yen Sid gave the two girls a curious look. "What do you know about our worlds?"

"Not as much as I'd like," Maria admitted. "But I know enough."

"How much is enough?" Goofy inquired.

"We kinda know about what happened in the years before Sora got his Keyblade." Maria looked at Yen Sid. "I'm referring to what Xehanort tried to do in the Keyblade Graveyard."

"Ah," Yen Sid said, understanding.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked, curious.

Liz let out a sigh. "We're talking about Aqua, Terra, and Ventas."

Mickey dashed into the room, probably having heard what Liz had just said. "You know about those three?" he asked, surprised.

Liz nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you know what's happened to them, then?!" Mickey looked very excited at the thought of hearing what had happened after leaving his friends behind.

"Easy, Your Majesty," Maria said. "Not all of it is good news."

Mickey calmed down a little. Looking at Maria, he said, "You must be Maria, right?"

Maria nodded. "Yup."

"What did you mean by 'not all of it is good news'?"

Maria swallowed. "It's about Terra..."

Mickey looked downcast. "I should've known... But I didn't see him hanging around Xehanort in The World That Never Was."

"Xemnas," Maria said flatly. "That's what Terra looked like when Xehanort invaded his body. That's also what he looked like when Amsem the Wise found him in Radiant Garden without his memory after a clash with Aqua, before she sent him out of the dark realm with her Keyblade and armor."

Donald let out a gasp. "Aqua was in the darkness?"

"And still is," Liz added. "Last we saw of her, she's sitting on that beach where you and Sora found the door to the light, Riku. Aqua is also with someone in Organization XIII garb, but he didn't attack her, and probably won't, from what we saw. We think it's Ansem the Wise, but we couldn't quite tell because he was hiding his face and he said he had lost his memory."

"The only clue we had was his voice," Maria explained. "However, it doesn't quite make sense, seeing as how Riku saw him last..."

Mickey obtained a hopeful look. "If you two know what happened to Terra and Aqua, maybe you know what happened to Ven!"

The two girls looked at each other, but before they could say anything, Kairi ran into the room, followed by Lea.

"Sora's back!" Kairi exclaimed excitedly.

"Really?" asked Donald. "Where?"

"Right behind Lea," said a voice from beyond the door. Lea moved to one side, revealing a boy with spiky, light brown hair, and wearing red pants with a black jacket.

Sora caught sight of Liz and Maria. "Hi! I'm Sora. Who might you two be?"

"I'm Liz, and this is my sister, Maria," Liz introduced. "We're not from around here."

"Yeah; Kairi told me about that. Do you need help getting home?"

"Well, it seems to be so," Maria remarked. "Liz can't open a portal to our home, but Pete did. That's how we ended up getting here in the first place. Yen Sid seems to think we were brought here to help out with something."

Mickey looked at the wizard. "I bet they're here to help us find Ven and rescue Aqua!"

Sora looked confused. "Who's Ven and Aqua?"

"Aqua was the woman who asked you to stay close to Riku, if he ever wandered into the darkness," Liz explained. "You remember - the one with blue hair?"

Sora frowned. "How did you know about that? You couldn't have been trapped here _that_ far back."

"We weren't," Maria replied. "We just watched from our world as events unfolded here." She looked pointedly at Lea. "You remember Ven, right? The kid with the toy wooden sword?"

Lea looked at Maria in surprise. "Well, yeah - that was before I became Axel."

"He's a Keyblade bearer, like you guys," Liz explained. "He's also a friend of Aqua's, as well as Terra's, who is another Keyblade user. But Terra kinda went down a dark path and hasn't been brought back into the light yet, and Aqua is waiting for the door of light to open, so that she can return here."

"You talk about this 'Ven' as if he is still alive," Riku noted.

"That's 'cause he is!" Liz replied. "In fact, Maria and I know _exactly_ where his heart is."

Mickey and Yen Sid look at the girls in shock.

"Where is he?" Mickey asked, excited.

Maria looked at Sora. "Your Nobody happens to look a lot like him."

"You mean Roxas?" Sora asked, frowning. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Riku frowned, as well.

"Normally, as it is in Lea's case, one's Nobody looks like the person used to, before they had their heart removed. You were a little different." Maria paused.

"'Cause Ventas' heart resides in you, Sora!" Liz exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" everyone except Yen Sid yelled.

Maria smirked. "Looks like no one was expecting _that_."

"How can this be?" Mickey asked, frowning. He looked at Sora, who shrugged, a confused look on his face.

"I don't know _what_ may have happened to cause that," Sora remarked.

Liz looked amused. "Didn't you contact someone else by opening your heart when you were younger?"

Sora frowned. "Opened my heart?" he repeated. He looked at Riku, who had probably remembered the same thing. Looking back at Liz, he remarked, "Yeah, I remember doing that."

"That was when you found Ven's heart," Maria explained. "The person you found said something about your voice cutting through the darkness and calling him, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And then he asked if he could stay with you while he slept, right?" Liz inquired.

"Yeah..."

"Then Ven's heart is inside you," Maria stated.

"If Ven's heart is inside Sora, then where's the rest of him?" Kairi asked. "Where's his body?"

"Castle Oblivion, once known as the Land of Departure," Yen Sid replied.

Sora frowned. "Why is that name so familiar?"

"You got sent there, once," Liz said. "It was before you woke up from that long sleep and found yourself in Twilight Town. A girl named Namine, who was Kairi's Nobody, messed with your memories there. Organization XIII was there, too, because they were searching for a specific chamber, but couldn't find it because that place is like a maze."

"It may as well be, to intruders who try to enter it," Maria remarked. "Aqua turned the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion, so that she could hide Ven's body there. However, only she knows her way through the place, because she was the one who transformed the world. If you guys are gonna get Ven's body, we're going to have to find a way to rescue Aqua first."

"But she's trapped in the darkness!" Donald protested.

"Then we'll need to find a way to activate a door to the light," Liz stated. "Any ideas?"

Everyone started thinking.

Maria shrugged helplessly when Donald looked at her. "Don't look at me. I know little to nothing about traveling between worlds or the realms of light and darkness."

Sora looked at Kairi, considering. "Well, when Riku and I got out of the realm of darkness, Kairi had sent us a letter in a bottle, talking about how our paths would cross eventually, no matter how long we had to wait. Do you think we ought to try the same thing with Aqua?"

"It _might_ work," Liz said. "However, I think it only worked for you and Kairi because of the paopu fruit you shared."

Sora and Kairi blushed a little at that.

Suddenly, a light bulb appeared above Mickey's head. "I got it!"

"Got what, Your Majesty?" Goofy asked.

"The Wayfinders! If Aqua still has hers, we can find her."

Yen Sid nodded. "That just might work."

Kairi took out her pink and orange Wayfinder. "Aqua has one of these?"

Maria nodded. "It's a blue one, though. Like deep water. Ventas and Terra had ones, too, but I don't know whether or not they would still have them. I _am_ aware of the location of Aqua's, Ven's, and Terra's armor."

"They had armor?" Sora repeated.

Liz nodded. "Aqua used hers to send Terra out of the realm of darkness, before Ansem the Wise found him. Ven's is somehow residing inside Sora, which doesn't make any sense to me -"

"I remember fighting that thing," Riku grunted. "At least it was just possessed by a Nightmare, and not being used by the boy himself."

"And Terra's is possessed by his willpower and resides in the Keyblade Graveyard," Maria added.

"If we can reason with the armor and somehow get Terra's Lingering Will to help us, we just might be able to restore Terra," Liz explained.

"How are we gonna do that?" Donald demanded.

Maria thought for a moment. "Well, from what I've heard, if we run into him, he'll attack after wondering who we are, if we are friend or foe. Depending on what might happen, either Terra's Lingering Will will continue to wander the Graveyard until something else happens, or he'll join us."

"If it's just his willpower, wouldn't he technically be a Nobody?" Lea asked.

"It's just his armor - Xehanort has Terra's actual body," Maria pointed out.

"Think of him like a ghost," Liz said. "One trapped in a suit of armor."

"So, how do we get to the Keyblade Graveyard?" Goofy asked.

Liz grinned. "Do you have to ask?" She got ready to open another portal, but Yen Sid stopped her, saying, "We are not sure what this Lingering Will is capable of, and you two still need to know the full extent of your abilities."

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Maria asked.

Yen Sid stroked his beard, thinking about what sort of training the two girls should undertake. "How about a journey across worlds?" he suggested.

Maria's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Donald looked panicked. "No! They could disrupt the world order!"

"Then why don't you come along with us, Donald?" Liz asked. "Keep us in line?"

Yen Sid shook his head. "Three magicians would not be such a good idea. I suggest two routes, and two groups, each with their own balance of power."

"I dibs Sora's group!" Liz exclaimed, moving next to Sora.

Maria sighed and shook her head. "I'll join up with Lea, if you don't mind."

Lea looked surprised. "Me? Why?"

"I want to learn how to control fire magic," Maria explained simply. "Liz has already fired off at least one blast, and so far I've only done blizzard and electric magic."

Donald and Goofy looked at the two groups, undecided as to whom they should go with. Riku was lost in thought, as well.

Kairi, after looking at her Wayfinder for a moment longer, walked over to stand next to Sora. The choice made complete sense to Maria and Liz. Riku, after considering, decided to keep the balance and went with Maria's and Lea's group. This left Donald and Goofy still undecided.

The duck looked back and forth, knowing that he would cause a tip in the balance if he went either way - there would be two magicians on one and not on the other. Goofy was also concerned, because he was the only knight among them.

Mickey, who had noticed their confusion, suggested, "How about the three of us go on a journey, too?"

"You mean that?" Goofy asked.

The mouse nodded. "It's been too long since the last time."

Goofy and Donald let out a whoop of delight and hugged their king.

Liz let out a sigh. "I was hoping that Mickey would join up with us..."

"There would have been imbalance," Maria pointed out. "Mickey's the only other Keyblade bearer in the room."

"Now, as for the routes you are to take," Yen Sid said, calling back their attention, "I will send you through worlds familiar, Maria and Liz. Never let your guard down, for the Heartless still roam in some of these worlds."

"Right," Liz and Maria said.

"Mickey, you can follow them to make sure things are still in order once they've left."

The mouse nodded.

"So, when do we get going?" Lea asked, impatient to get started.

"Soon," Yen Sid replied, thinking of a destination.

"Where are we going first?" Maria asked.

Yen Sid looked at Maria, stroking his beard. "I'm going to send you to a museum."

Lea threw up his arms in despair. "Where's the fun in that?"

"Perhaps an adventure starts there," Riku pointed out.

"Indeed," Yen Sid confirmed. "When you get there, find a boy named Milo. I want you to help him fulfill a dream of his and his grandfather's."

Maria's eyes widened, then her mouth stretched into a grin. "Now I know _exactly_ where you're going to send us."

Liz, as soon as she heard the name "Milo," knew as well. "You'd better be careful that you don't spill anything, Maria. Who knows what will happen?"

Maria nodded. "Don't worry; I'll keep my mouth shut."

Yen Sid then looked at Liz. "You will go to a small inn located on a planet out in space. There, you meet a boy named Jim Hawkins."

Liz became very excited.

Maria smirked. "Now don't you go about spilling anything," she reminded her. She looked at Yen Sid. "So, how are we going to get to these places and wherever else you're going to want us to go? Gummi Ships?"

"I can just summon a portal," Liz said quickly. "No need for those things."

"Well, yeah, but what about _me_?" Maria asked. "I can't do that."

"Actually, whatever your sister is capable of, you are capable of as well," Yen Sid explained. "I will provide the first portal for each of you, but after that, you're on your own. Simply concentrate on a location, and a portal will appear."

Maria nodded. "Got it."

Yen Sid then opened two portals, one behind Maria's group and one behind Liz's group. "Good luck," he said.

"Thanks!" Liz and Maria said together as they climbed into their respective portals.

"See ya later!" Maria added as her portal closed.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So, is this the museum he was talking about?" Lea asked as they stepped through the portal.

Maria nodded as she took note of the dinosaur skeletons on display. "Guys, welcome to the Smithsonian Institute. There's a place just like this where I come from, but it's quite a distance from where I live."

"Wait! Please!"

The group turned their heads to see a scrawny young man with brown hair and glasses chasing a shorter, more stout and older man in a suit. It was obvious the latter was uncomfortable to have the younger man chasing him. The two ran past Maria, Lea, and Riku without even a glance and out the revolving doors at the entrance.

"Who?" Lea asked.

Maria sighed. "The man who was doing the chasing is Milo. He managed to obtain a job here, but they keep him in the basement. He keeps trying to prove that Atlantis, a lost civilization, actually used to exist. Everyone else tells him it's nothing more than a dream, though."

"And the man he was chasing?" Riku inquired.

"The museum director," Maria replied. "Come on; we'd better catch up with them." She ran out of the museum, followed by Riku and Lea.

Outside, the cobblestone road was deserted. Milo was standing in the middle of a puddle on said road, thoroughly soaked, papers scattered everywhere.

Maria ran over and picked up the papers. Handing them to Milo, she asked, "What happened here?"

Milo sighed. "The Director of the Institute has been telling me for months to give up searching for Atlantis. He won't even give me funding I need."

"It's not the end of the world yet," Maria pointed out. "By the way, I'm Maria. My friends, Lea and Riku, and I saw you chasing the director and came out here to see what had happened."

Milo grinned nervously. "I've been trying to prove to him that Atlantis exists."

Maria frowned. "Isn't Atlantis a myth, sir?"

"Call me Milo," Milo said. "And no, it isn't a myth. You see, there's this book that's been lost for a thousand years or so, called the _Shepherd's_ _Journal_. It holds all the secrets of Atlantis, and if I could go on an expedition to the Iceland, I might be able to find it and, eventually, Atlantis. Finding Atlantis was my grandfather's dream, and now it's mine. And I'm not going to give it up!"

"What other sort of proof is there?" Riku inquired.

Milo looked at him. "There have been carvings and tales about the lost civilization all over the world," he explained. "But the only really concise record of that place is the _Shepherd's_ _Journal_."

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Lea said, "but what is the legend of Atlantis?"

Milo looked at Lea in surprise at such a question. Obviously, he thought that everyone was familiar with it. "Atlantis was an island out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," he explained. "There was some sort of catastrophic event that caused it to sink under the waves, however. I believe that the entire island was sent deep into the sea, perhaps even below it, and that the people still survives."

There was a sudden clap of thunder, and it started to rain.

Riku looked up. "Is there a place we can stay until the rain stops?"

Milo nodded. "Come to my place - you can stay there."

Maria grinned. "Thanks!"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Where are we?" Kairi asked as they stepped out of the portal.

Liz pointed at a wooden sign in front of them. "The BenBow Inn." She looked at the other two. "This is the place that Yen Sid was talking about."

There was a sudden clap of thunder, and it started raining heavily.

"We'd better head inside!" Liz yelled over the pouring rain.

The three ran inside quickly.

Inside the inn, there were no customers, as they had either gone home or up the stairs to their rooms. The only two sitting at a table were a woman in a simple blue dress with a white apron and wearing a blue headscarf and a dog in what seemed to be the outfit of a gentleman, including a brown suit, red scarf, and a monocle.

Sora, Liz, and Kairi found themselves a table. Liz, taking note of the window shades, grinned at the meadow-design.

"My mom would really like those kinds of shades for every season except summer," she remarked.

The door suddenly opened as lightning flashed, revealing a boy with brown hair, and wearing red boots with black, olive green jeans, a tan shirt, and a dark green jacket. He was supporting a giant lizard-like figure, who was wearing a large black jacket and carrying a chest.

"James Pleiades Hawkins!" the woman exclaimed.

"Mom, he's hurt, bad," Jim said as he lowered the lizard to the wooden floor.

Liz, Sora, and Kairi jumped up and ran over. So did the dog.

"Me chest, lad," the lizard moaned. He moved his claws over the three symbols on the chest, which popped open, revealing a brass sphere. "He's coming soon. Can't let him find this." He placed it into Jim's hands.

"Who's coming?" Jim asked.

The lizard pulled the boy close and hissed, "The cyborg!" The lizard released his grip and fell back, gasping, "Beware the cyborg!" As soon as his head hit the floor, his eyes closed.

"Is he...?" Kairi couldn't get the word out.

The dog sighed. "I'm afraid so."

Jim ran over to the window and opened the shade a little. Outside, there was a large group of figures, one of whom seemed to have a gun for his arm.

"We gotta go!" Jim exclaimed as he made his way up the stairs.

The dog took one look out the window and yelped. "I believe I'm with Jim on this one!" He ran after Jim.

"Come on, you!" the woman told Liz and the others. "It's not safe here!" she herded the three children up the stairs after the other two.

As they disappeared into the hallway, a pirate broke down the door, ordering, "Find it!" At the same time, the kitchen suddenly burst into flames.

Liz, Sora, Kairi, and the woman quickly moved to the end of the hall, where there was a window looking out over a small carriage-like vehicle.

"Don't worry, Sarah," the dog said hurriedly. "I'm an expert in the laws of physical science. On the count of three. One, two, three!"

Everyone jumped into the back of the carriage.

"Go, Delilah, go!" the dog yelled at the giant insect in front of the carriage.

The figure nodded and dashed forward, making chirping noises as it did so. Behind them, the BenBow Inn was rising up in flames.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Well, here we are," Milo said as they walked into his small house. "Home sweet home." He tried to flip a light switch, only to discover that the lights weren't coming on. "Huh. I guess the power's out." Turning to his guests, he said, "You guys may as well make yourselves as comfortable as you can. There isn't really much here in that regard, but..." he trailed off as another flash of lightning illuminated the room.

There was a woman with blond hair and wearing a black dress and fur-lined hat and coat standing next to a window inside the house.

"Milo James Thatch?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Milo said. "Who're you? And what are you doing in my house? How did you get _in_ my house?"

"I came down the chimney. Ho Ho Ho," the woman replied. "My name is Helga Sinclair. I was sent here by my employer to get you."

"And who's that?" Riku inquired. He noticed that Maria's eyes had narrowed as soon as the woman had appeared, but said nothing as to inquire about the girl's thoughts.

"Mr. Whitmore," came the reply. Helga looked at Maria, Lea, and Riku. "You are welcome to bring the children along, but make sure they don't cause any trouble. Mr. Whitmore's home is not a playground."

"How old do you think we are, five?" Lea demanded. He strode forward, but Riku grabbed his arm.

"Don't," the Keyblade Master muttered. "You may blow it."

Lea glared at Riku, but stood down.

The woman nodded her approval. "Let's go."

**Line Break. Just ignore and move on.**

As they drove up to the towering iron gates of the mansion, Maria felt her excitement build. To be actually meeting movie characters from her childhood made her want to just hug the person sitting next to her and squeal like a fan girl. However, seeing as a disgruntled Lea was sitting on one side and a quiet Riku was sitting on the other, Maria had to keep her boiling excitement to a minimum. Because of the number of people that had been in Milo's house, Maria, Riku, and Lea sat in the back of the black Rolls Royce while Milo sat next to the strange woman in the front.

"Say, Maria," Lea said in a quiet undertone.

"What?" Maria asked in the same manner.

"Do you know that woman's roll here?"

Maria frowned, her eyes narrowing into slits. "I do, but I don't want to reveal too much before the appropriate time."

After getting hustled out of the car and into the mansion, Maria took in all the decorations while Helga lectured Milo on what to do in Mr. Whitmore's presence. Then they were all gathered into an elevator.

As they rode down the elevator, Helga stated, "Only speak when spoken to and do not ask abut Mr. Whitmore's health." She looked at Maria, Lea, and Riku. "Try to stay out of his way, understand? You are only here because Milo was with you when I found him. Don't speak, don't whistle, don't even try to breathe."

Maria nodded, knowing where this was going. "Like the old saying goes, 'Children are to be seen and not heard.'"

The woman nodded her approval.

When they reached their floor, the elevator door opened and the group was directed by Helga into a room that seemed like a study. It had high ceilings and large paintings to go with the largeness of the room. On one side, there were bookshelves equipped with ladders because they went up so high. On the other side was a large aquarium. In the center of the room was a long table. At the far end of the room, which was dimly lit unlike the entrance, was a fireplace.

"And relax, he doesn't bite...much," Helga told them.

Milo walked carefully towards the fireplace, then noticed a painting on the wall with two men standing together. "Grandfather...?"

"Greatest explorer I ever met!" came a voice. Milo looked down, noticing an old man with white hair sticking out like horns on either side of his head and on his chin. He was sitting on a mat in a blue bathrobe, doing yoga. "Preston B. Whitmore. Glad to meet you, Milo." He took note of the three extras, who were being trailed by Helga to make sure they behaved.

"My name's Maria," Maria introduced herself boldly.

"I'm Riku," Riku said.

"Name's Lea," Lea greeted. He considered adding "Got it memorized?" but decided against it.

"Milo was kind enough to shelter us from the thunderstorm using his own home," Maria explained. "We kinda got brought along for the ride."

Whitmore chuckled. "That's fine, that's fine. Milo, I've got something for you. Look on that table over there." He got up on his head and started to crack his toes.

Milo walked over and picked up a package wrapped in brown paper. "It's from my grandfather."

"Yup. Asked me to give it to you in case anything happened to him." Whitmore got up and walked over to a divider that was near the fireplace.

Milo tore the paper, revealing a book with a spiral-like shape in the center of the front cover. Maria and Milo recognized it instantly.

"The _Shepherd's Journal_," Milo said in awe. He opened it up and started looking at the pages. "Look at this! Coordinates, maps - it's all here!"

Maria peered over Milo's shoulder, looking at the innards of the book with wide, curious eyes as she saw the information written there - even if she couldn't read it. "Whoa..."

"Isn't it written in gibberish?" Whitmore asked from behind the divider.

"Not to me," Milo replied. "I'm a linguist, and I study dead languages. It's just a little difficult to understand."

Whitmore stepped out from behind the divider, now in a white suit and carrying a cane. "So you believe this?" he asked, motioning to the book with the cane.

Milo nodded, closing the book. "Now I have the proof I need! I can make the museum believe that Atlantis exists!"

"Like you did earlier today?" Whitmore asked with a smirk. He seated himself in an armchair at the head of a table

Milo looked at him in surprise. "How did you - never mind. Look, Mr. Whitmore, I want to get to Atlantis. And I'll get there, if I have to take a rowboat!" He slammed the table with the _Journal_.

Mr. Whitmore smiled mischievously. "Milo, that was exactly what I wanted to hear. But forget the rowboat, son. You'll be traveling in style." He pressed a button on the table, causing small models of land and water transports to rise up. Foremost among them was a submarine.

"Wow," Milo said, picking up a zeppelin. "You're going to need a crew. Geologists, mechanics-"

"Got 'em all - the best of the best," Whitmore replied, tossing a folder in Milo's direction. "Mole - geologist. Vinny - demolitions expert. Audrey - mechanics. The same team your grandfather had when he found the book."

"Where?" Milo asked.

"Iceland," Whitmore replied, showing a picture of the team all together with a snowy background.

"I knew it!" Milo crowed.

"You'll be leaving tomorrow," Whitmore said.

Milo looked startled. "That soon? But what about my job?"

"You resigned this afternoon," Whitmore replied calmly.

Milo looked confused. "I did?" He shook his head as he fell into a chair behind him. "What about my clothes?"

"Packed."

"And my cat?" Milo demanded. A small, white furry creature crawled over Milo's shoulder and fell into his lap, purring.

Maria blinked in surprise. "Where did that little guy come from?"

Milo shrugged at the teen, then turned his attention fully to Whitmore. "Why are you doing all this?"

"Old Thatch," Whitmore replied as he got up from the table. "He talked about Atlantis and that book of yours so much that I finally made a bet with him. I said, 'Thatch, if you find that book, I'll finance an expedition to Atlantis and kiss you on the full mouth'!" He picked up a photograph in a gold frame and showed it to Milo, Maria, Lea, and Riku. "You can imagine my surprise when he found the darned thing."

The photo portrayed an elderly man wearing a safari hat - Thaddeus Thatch - and Mr. Whitmore wiping their mouths with disgusted looks on their faces. In Thaddeus' hands was the _Journal_.

Lea and Maria stifled a laugh when they saw the photo. Riku allotted himself a small smile.

Milo looked at Whitmore. "I don't think I can do this." He tried to give the book to him, but Whitmore stopped him.

"The team has been assembled, Milo," Whitmore said. "All we need now is an expert in gibberish."

Maria, knowing that this would be a good a time as any, asked, "Might we be able to come along, as well?"

Mr. Whitmore looked at her in surprise. "Why would you want to?"

"I would like to see Atlantis. It's every kid's dream to go on an out of this world adventure. Besides - my friends and I are going on a cross-country trip, anyway. Why not add a little excitement?"

"It could get dangerous," Milo pointed out. "The Atlanteans probably put up some booby traps against anyone getting close."

Lea shrugged. "They're probably not as bad as what we've seen."

Mr. Whitmore shook his head. "I can't afford to let you on a trip that could kill you."

"Then we'll stow away," Maria replied boldly.

"I'll make sure you don't," Helga growled.

"Try," Maria growled back. Her right hand twitched, like it was prepared to bring her staff into existence, but she decided against it - reluctantly.

"Even if I were to allow you to come, I already have a full crew!" Mr. Whitmore pointed out.

"And I don't want to put you into danger," Milo said sternly.

Riku suddenly leapt up, summoning his Keyblade. Maria and Lea looked at him, surprised.

"Heartless?" Maria guessed, summoning her staff and gripping it tightly, preparing to unleash a magical blast if she had to.

Riku jumped toward Helga, who moved to stand behind Mr. Whitmore. The Keyblade Master then swung his blade not in Helga's direction, but at a dark creature in front of him.

"Heartless," Riku confirmed. "It must have followed us. Or, someone is trying to stop the expedition."

"Let's see if there are any others," Lea suggested. He summoned a few orbs of fire and sent them out to separate corners of the room, careful not to set anything on fire. Oddly enough, there weren't any more Heartless.

As Lea's fire orbs faded and Riku's and Maria's weapons vanished, they took note that the three others in the room were staring at them in surprise and shock.

Maria sighed. "That dark creature Riku slashed is called a Heartless. They are known to steal people's hearts, and usually appear around the person with the most dark power in the area. We've kind of been running into these guys at every stop we make, and they were usually causing trouble in that area. If these guys are here, then a villain must be hoping to either keep your expedition from happening, or he wants that book." She pointed at the _Shepherd's Journal_.

Milo opened the book and showed the others what was written on the pages. "This is written in Atlantean, so there's no way anyone else would be able to understand it unless they had tried to study this extensively."

"It could be that the Heartless was trying to get you _and_ the book," Riku suggested. "And, if they know about what you have planned, it is likely that they could be part of the crew."

Milo stared at Riku as the statement sunk in. Then he looked at Mr. Whitmore and asked, "Is there any room for these three?"

Taking note of the look on Milo's face, Mr. Whitmore thought for a moment. Finally, he said, "They would have to sleep in a cargo hold, and the food rations would be smaller because of them, but yes, they can go."

"Yes!" Maria exclaimed.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Liz relaxed quietly in a red armchair next to the fireplace in one of the large room in Dr. Delbert Doppler's home as everyone waited for the dog's return. Sora and Kairi were sitting on a green couch with Jim sitting between them, looking at the strange sphere the lizard had given him.

Mrs. Hawkins was the only one not sitting. Instead, she paced nervously, waiting for Dr. Doppler to return.

Doppler ran in, taking off his coat. "I just spoke with the constabulary. Those blasted pirates have vanished without a trace." He took Mrs. Hawkins' hands in his. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm afraid the old BenBow Inn has burned to the ground."

Mrs. Hawkins sighed and slipped out of Dr. Doppler's grasp.

The dog coughed. "We'll, certainly a lot of trouble over that odd little sphere. Those marking baffle me unlike anything I've anything I've ever seen."

Jim seemed to find what he was looking for, because Liz could hear gears winding as the dog continued, "Even with my vast experience and superior intellect, it would take me years to unlock its- " He stopped with an exclamation of surprise as a green holographic grid suddenly appeared.

Jim got up and walked into the center of the room, still holding the sphere. He looked around in amazement as holographic, green figures began to appear - stars, planets, and so on and so forth.

Liz smirked as she, Sora, and Kairi got up. "Looks like Jim unlocked its secrets within a few seconds."

Doppler looked at a little planet in front of his nose. "This is us, the planet Montressor." He let out a gasp as he caught sight of a collection of stars. "That's the Magellanic Cloud!" Then he took note of a spiral of stars. "The Coral Galaxy!" He touched it, causing the grid to start moving. "That's the Cygnus Cross, and that's the Kerian Abyss." A sphere came up in the center of the room, surrounded by two rings of space dust crossing at different angles.

Doppler looked at it, eyes wide. "What's this?" He let out a gasp. "Why, it's -"

"Treasure Planet," Jim finished.

Doppler looked at him. "No!"

"That's Treasure Planet!" Jim repeated, excited.

"Flint's treasure trove?" Doppler said. "The loot of a thousand worlds? You know what this means?"

"It means all that treasure's a boat ride away," Jim replied.

"Whoever brings it back would hold the eternal place atop the pantheon of explorers!" Doppler's eyes were shining. "He'd be able to experience -"

The map suddenly vanished, disappearing back into the sphere.

While Doppler looked around in confusion, Jim told his mother, "Mom, this is it, this is the answer to all our problems!"

Mrs. Hawkins looked worried. "Jim there is no way -"

"Don't you remember all those stories?" Jim insisted.

"But that's all they were - stories!" Mrs. Hawkins retorted.

"With that treasure...we could rebuild the BenBow Inn a hundred times over!"

Mrs. Hawkins looked at Doppler. "Delbert, would you please explain how ridiculous this is?"

The dog looked at Jim. "Now, it's totally preposterous...traversing the entire galaxy alone."

Mrs. Hawkins sighed. "At last, we have some sense."

"And that's why I'm going with you!"

"Delbert!"

"I'll use my life savings to finance an expedition," the dog continued, ignoring Mrs. Hawkins' shocked look. "I'll commission a ship, hire a captain and crew..."

"You're not serious!" Mrs. Hawkins exclaimed.

"All my life I've been waiting for an opportunity like this," Doppler said with a faraway look in his eyes, "and here it is screaming 'Go Delbert! Go Delbert!'"

"You're both grounded!" Mrs. Hawkins shouted, desperate.

Jim let out a sigh and walked over to his mom. "Mom, look. I know that I keep messing everything up, and I know that I let you down. But is is my chance to make everything up to you. I'm gonna set things right."

Delbert walked over. "Sarah, if I may? There are worse remedies than a few character-building months in space."

Mrs. Hawkins looked at him. "Are you saying this because it's the right thing, or do you really want to go?"

"I really, really, really want to go," Doppler admitted.

"And it's the right thing," Liz added. "If you don't mind, Dr. Doppler, would it be all right if my friends and I came along?"

The dog looked at her in surprise. "Why?"

"We've never been on a treasure hunt like this, and we'd kinda like to come along and see how this turns out."

Sora nodded vigorously. He had been around Jack Sparrow, and this had kind of awakened that need for adventure he had felt when in that specific world.

Mrs. Hawkins frowned. "You will have to discuss it with your parents first."

"What they don't know won't hurt them," Liz replied carelessly. "Besides, they already gave us permission to take a little cross-planet trip. Why not make it a trip across the galaxy?"

Doppler was now frowning. "I don't know..."

"We've seen the map, too," Kairi pointed out. "We could accidentally let it slip that Treasure Planet does exist..."

Doppler took the hint, but not in the way intended. "Then you'll stay here in my home until we return."

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker, as they had when Jim had activated the map. Sora, Kairi, and Liz all summoned their weapons as spots of black appeared in the floor.

"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed.

The black creatures began to appear, looking around in that jerky way they usually did.

Doppler let out a girlish squeal and hid behind the couch, where Mrs. Hawkins quickly joined him. Jim, however, did not hide. He was surrounded by the Heartless.

"Jim!" Liz exclaimed. She started slashing through the Heartless. Sora and Kairi did the same. They met in the middle of the crowd of dark creatures.

"What did you call these things?" Jim asked. "Heartless?"

Sora nodded. "They're creatures that steal people's hearts and coat them in darkness," he explained. "If they're here, that means someone with a lot of dark power must be in this world."

"We've run into these guys before," Liz added. "They were probably sent by that cyborg guy who was after the map, back at the Inn."

"Is there any way to defeat them?" Doppler asked as he peered over the couch.

"Sure," Sora replied. He swung his Keyblade, taking out more Heartless. Liz sent a blast of fire magic from her sword at another group, which dissolved as the fire took hold. Within minutes, all the Heartless were gone.

Doppler got up from where he had been kneeling behind the couch, then helped Mrs. Hawkins up. He looked at Liz, Sora, and Kairi, who still had their blades out. After nervously clearing his throat, he said, "I guess it would be all right if you three came along. We are going to have need of those skills of yours in case those Heartless come around again."

"YES!" Liz and Sora exclaimed.

Mrs. Hawkins looked worried. "Jim, Delbert, I can't let you go if these creatures are roaming about! I could lose you."

"Don't worry, Mom," Jim said. "You won't. We have these three with us."

"Our names are Liz, Sora, and Kairi," Liz corrected. Her, Sora's, and Kairi's blades vanished as she continued, "We'll make sure nothing happens to him, Mrs. Hawkins."

Mrs. Hawkins looked at Liz, and seeing the determined look, nodded. "All right. Just be careful, okay?"

Liz, Sora, and Kairi nodded.

Delbert grinned. "Let's be off! To the spaceport!"


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Liz, Sora, and Kairi followed Jim through the crowds of aliens, looking around in amazement at all the ships ready to sail, the captains and crews, and the cargo.

"Kids! Wait for me!" Doppler exclaimed as he ran after them. The large astronaut-like suit he was wearing clanked loudly with every step he took. He stopped and to catch his breath. "Well, kids, this should be a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know each other."

Jim looked back at him, but didn't say a word as they continued walking, indifferent to Doppler's attempt at conversation. Liz watched the dog with a small smirk on her face.

"You know what they saw," the dog continued, "familiarity breeds -" he paused. "Well, contempt, but in our case -"

"Look, let's just find the ship, okay?" Jim asked, annoyed.

The group continued on, stopping at a building to ask for directions.

"Second berth on your right," an alien on a ladder stated.

"You can't miss it," the one holding the ladder added.

"Thanks," Sora said as they walked by.

The two aliens stared at Doppler for a moment, then continued with their business.

Doppler sighed. "It's the suit, isn't it? I should have never listened to that pushy two-headed saleswoman. This one said it fit, that one said it was my color. I didn't know what to do, I get so flustered." He let out a gasp, looking at a white boat with its solar sails unfurled. "Oh! Jim, this is our ship! The _R.L.S. Legacy_."

"Whoa," Jim said as he looked at the ship.

Liz had to agree. Seeing the ship up close was a marvel in and of itself.

As they walked up the gangplank and onto the ship, someone shouted, "Stow those casks forward! Heave together now!"

Sora looked around in amazement. "This is so cool!" he exclaimed. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching where he was going, and he ran into a large, squishy object. Backing up, he realized he had run into a large slug creature. Sora held up his hand in defense. "Sorry, I didn't mean to -"

He was interrupted by the slug, which released several noises which have been deemed "farts" by the general community.

"Allow me to handle this," Doppler said, stepping in front of Sora. He unleashed his own version of the noises, pushing his cheeks to get better leverage.

The slug looked surprised, but then it chuckled and replied using the noises.

"I'm fluent in Flatula, Sora," Doppler explained. "Took two years of it in high school." He saluted the slug, unleashing a raspberry.

"Flatula, huh?" Jim muttered. "Cool."

"Good morning, Captain," Doppler said as he walked up to a man who looked like a giant rock. "Everything shipshape?"

"Shipshape it is, sir," the man replied, "but I'm not the captain." He pointed upward. "The captain's aloft."

There was a loud meow, and a cat in uniform slid down a rope and landed beside the rock-man.

"Mr. Arrow, I've checked this miserable ship from stem to stern," the cat said coldly, "and as usual it's...spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?"

"You flatter me, Captain," Mr. Arrow said, embarrassed.

The front part of Doppler's helmet fell forward as the captain turned to look at him. "Dr. Doppler, I presume?"

The helmet nodded.

"Hello, can you hear me?" she asked, knocking on his helmet.

"Yes, I can hear you!" Doppler snapped. "Now stop banging!"

"If I may, Doctor," the captain said as she fussed with something, "It works so much better when it's right way up and plugged in." She ran around the back and pushed something.

Doppler let out a yelp.

"Lovely," the cat said. "There you go."

Doppler glared at her. "If you don't mind, I can manage my own plugging!" he growled, unplugging a black plug and shaking it at her.

"I'm Captain Amelia," the cat introduced. "Late of a few run-ins with the Protean Armada. Nasty business, but I won't bore you with my scars." She motioned to Mr. Arrow. "You've already met my first officer, Mr. Arrow. Sterling, tough, dependable, honest, brave, and true."

Mr. Arrow looked embarrassed. "Please, Captain."

"Oh, shut up, Arrow," Amelia said. "You know I don't mean a word of it."

Doppler coughed. "I hate to interrupt this lovely banter, but may I introduce you to Jim Hawkins?"

Jim shook Amelia's and Arrow's hand as Doppler continued, "Jim is the boy who found the treasure-"

Liz slapped her hand over Doppler's mouth to prevent him from saying anything more as some of the crew looked in his direction. Arrow glared at them, and they reluctantly went back to work.

Amelia glared at Doppler. "I'd like a word with with all of you in my stateroom," She growled. Amelia then turned around and walked off, followed by Arrow.

Sora shrugged, then followed after them. Kairi ran after him, followed by Jim. Liz, after taking her hand off Doppler's mouth, ran after them. Doppler followed her, clanging loudly.

After they got into the stateroom and Amelia closed the door, she said, "Doctor, to muse and babble about a treasure map in front of this particular crew, demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic - and I mean that in a caring way."

"Imbecilic, you say?" Doppler repeated. He looked like he was boiling over in anger. "Foolishness, I've -"

"May I see the map, please?" Amelia interrupted.

Jim took out the brass sphere and held it out. "Here."

Amelia took it, looking at the object like a cat on Earth would look at a toy. "Fascinating." She walked over to a cabinet and placed the object inside. "Children, in the future, you address me as 'Captain' or 'Ma'am.' Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Liz and Sora exclaimed.

"Yes, ma'am," Kairi said quietly.

Jim didn't say anything, and Amelia noticed.

"I said, is that clear?" Amelia repeated.

"Yes, ma'am," Jim muttered under his breath.

Amelia paused. "That'll do." She closed the cabinet and locked it tight. "Gentlemen, this must be kept under lock and key when not in use." She walked over to Doppler. "And, Doctor, with the greatest respect, zip your howling screamer."

Doppler looked a little nervous while Liz tried to stifle a laugh. "Doctor, I assure you I -"

"Let me make this as monosyllabic as possible," Amelia continued. "I don't care much for this crew you hired. They're..." She looked at Arrow. "How did I describe them, Arrow? I said something rather good this morning before coffee."

" 'A ludicrous parcel of driveling galoots,' ma'am," came the reply, causing Liz to smirk out of amusement, a snort of laughter escaping.

"There you go," Amelia said calmly. "Poetry."

Doppler was becoming very annoyed. "Now, see here -"

"Doctor, I'd love to chat - tea, cakes, the whole shebang - but I have a ship to launch, and...you've got your outfit to buff up." Amelia made her way to the door. "Mr. Arrow, please escort these five neophytes down to the galley straightaway. Young Hawkins and the others will be working for our cook, Mr. Silver."

"What? The cook?" Jim demanded, indignant.

As they left the stateroom, both Jim and Doppler were fuming.

"That woman! That...feline!" Doppler exclaimed. "Who does she think is working for whom?"

"It's my map, and she's got me busting tables?" Jim moaned.

"I will not have a cross word spoken about our captain!" Mr. Arrow barked.

"Besides, this is your first time on a ship, isn't it?" Sora asked. "You're going to have to start small."

"And that includes you," Liz added. "It doesn't matter that you've been on a boat in water. This is completely different."

Arrow nodded his approval, then led them into the galley.

Inside, a man had his back turned to them as he worked with a stove. Hearing the whistle Mr. Arrow let out as they approached, he turned and said, "Why, Mr. Arrow, sir!" He took note of the group behind the first officer. "Bringin' in such fine and distinguished guests to grace my humble galley. Had I known, I would've tucked in me shirt!" He chuckled.

"A cyborg!" Liz whispered, taking note of the man's arm and leg. Jim and the others had also noticed.

"My I introduce Dr. Doppler, the financier of our voyage," Arrow said as he motioned to Doppler. "Doctor, this is Mr. Silver."

"Love the outfit, Doc," Silver remarked as he shook the dog's hand.

"Thank you," Doppler replied, quickly thinking for a reply. "Love the eye," he added, taking note of the robotic eye Silver had. He motioned to Jim. "This young lad is Jim Hawkins."

"Jimbo!" Silver greeted, putting out his robotic hand. Oddly enough, it had a couple knives at the end. Noticing this, Silver exchanged them for a makeshift hand, which Jim didn't take. "Oh, don't be too put off by this hunk of hardware." Silver turned back to the stove and started cooking quickly, breaking three eggs at once, chopping vegetables, and stirring it all together in a large kettle with a blender. "These gears have been tough getting used to," he explained as he worked, "but they do come in mighty handy from time to time." He poured out some of the concoction into five bowls, then handed them to his guests, saying, "Here, now, have a taste of me famous bonzabeast stew."

Liz took in a whiff of the aroma coming off the stew as Doppler lapped up some of it.

"Mm," Doppler said. "Delightfully tangy, yet robust."

Sora took a sip of the stew and nodded in agreement, encouraging Kairi to take a sip, as well.

"An old family recipe," Silver explained.

Doppler was about to sip up more of his stew just as an eyeball surfaced. He let out a yelp of surprise, jerking his head back.

"Let me guess," Liz said, "part of the old family?"

Silver grinned hugely. "Ah, I'm just kiddin', Doc. I'm nothing if I ain't a kidder." He looked at Jim. "Go on, Jimbo. Have a swig."

Jim was about to take a sip when the stew suddenly was sucked down into a little pink blob at the bottom of the bowl. It chuckled.

"Morph!" Silver exclaimed. "You jiggle-headed blob of mischief! So that's where you was hiding."

The little creature chittered and flew over to Silver's right shoulder, letting out a chattering noise.

"What is that thing?" Sora asked.

The blob transformed into a small version of Sora, then mimicked, "What is that thing?"

"He's a morph," Silver explained as Morph transformed back into a pink blob. "Rescued the little shape-shifter on Proteus."

Morph let out a cooing noise as he nuzzled against Silver.

"He took a shine to me," Silver continued. "We've been together ever since." He looked at Morph. "Right?"

Morph nodded quickly.

"We're about to get underway," Arrow said to them. "Would you like to observe the launch, Doctor?"

Doppler became excited. "Would I? Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets?" When Arrow didn't answer, Doppler said quietly, "I'll follow you."

"Mr. Hawkins, Sora, Kairi, and Liz will stay here in your charge, Mr. Silver," Arrow continued, when the named group tried to follow him out.

Silver looked nervous. "Begging your pardon, sir, but -"

"Captain's orders! See to it that you keep your new cabin boys busy." With that, Arrow and Doppler left the galley, while Silver, Jim, and Sora protested.

"So, the Captain's put you all with me, eh?" Silver asked once he had gotten over what Arrow had said.

Liz nodded. "Yup."

Silver shrugged. "Well, who be a humble cyborg to argue with the captain?"

Jim wandered over to a barrel and pulled out a purple fruit. "You know...these purps...they're kind of like the ones back home on Montressor." He looked at Silver. "Ever been there?"

"Can't say as I have, Jimbo," the cyborg replied.

Jim tossed the fruit a little. "Come to think of it, just before I left, I met this old guy who was kind of looking for a cyborg buddy of his."

Silver frowned. "Is that so?"

Jim nodded.

"What was that old salamander's name?"

Liz stiffened. They hadn't informed Silver of the creature's species...

Jim, who hadn't really taken note of one of the words in the cook's question, stated, "Bones. Billy Bones."

Silver frowned and though it over, muttering the name a couple times. "Can't say I have," he replied finally. "Must've been a different cyborg. There's a slew of cyborgs roamin' this port."

On deck above, there was a loud whistle, followed by Arrow shouting, "Prepare to cast off!"

Silver smiled. "Off with you kids, and watch the launch. There'll be plenty of work a-waitin' afterwards."

The four in front of him grinned at each other, then ran out of the galley.

Once they were gone, Morph let out a chattering noise.

"We'll be keepin' a sharp eye on this one, eh, Morph?" Silver asked. "We wouldn't want him strayin' into things he shouldn't."

On deck, just as Jim and the others got out of the galley, Arrow reported to Amelia, "All clear, Captain!"

Amelia smiled at him. "Well, my friend. Are we ready to raise this sinking tub?"

"My pleasure, Captain," Arrow replied. He then called out loudly, "All hands to stations!"

The crew began to move about quickly, heading for their designated areas both on deck and up the mast.

"Loose all solar sails!" Arrow called. The crew responded instantly, pulling ropes and tying down the sails as the unfurled. "Heave up the braces!"

The braces were raised, and the ship started to rise. So did those on the ship.

"Mr. Zoff, engage artificial gravity," Amelia told the slug Sora had run into earlier.

Zoff saluted, then pulled down a lever near him, causing the crew to come back down. Doppler, who wasn't used to this sort of thing, slammed down on his back beside Amelia, losing some of the suit's parts. Liz and Kairi almost landed the same way, but Sora helped them stay upright.

"South by southwest, Mr. Turnbuckle," Amelia told a green slug-like creature at the helm. "Heading 4600."

"Aye, Captain," Turnbuckle replied as he started to turn the helm. "4600."

"Full speed, Mr. Arrow, if you please," Amelia told Arrow.

"Take her away!" Arrow shouted. Below, engines could be heard revving up like a race car's.

"Brace yourself, Doctor," Amelia told Doppler.

"Brace yourself," Doppler mimicked haughtily. Then he was blown back and hit a wall as the ship took off.

Liz, when she saw that, couldn't help but laugh as the ship took off into the stars.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Maria looked out over the ocean, taking in the sea air. They had been out at sea for only a few days, and she had been enjoying the feeling of the boat. Riku, having lived by the sea for a lot of his life, didn't have to adjust from land legs to sea legs visibly. Maria and Lea, however, took a little bit to get used to the boat's rocking. Maria, because she had swimming lessons in the past, felt slightly comforted because she knew she could last longer out there than if she hadn't taken them. However, she was also slightly nervous because there wasn't any sight on land within a hundred miles of the ship, meaning that there was less of a chance of being found by someone and taken into a shelter. However, considering that the ship _hadn't_ sunk in the movie...

She looked at Milo, who was standing next to her as he leaned over the rail, a sack of essentials beside him. He was probably the only one on the ship to actually be seasick. Most of the crew would send him glances of surprise or sympathy as to the fact that he had actually come along for the ride. Some even wondered why he, Maria, Riku, and Lea had come along in the first place. Of course, the question as to why the three extras had come along was quickly answered when Maria and Riku took out some Heartless using their weapons when they had appeared at random moments, and Lea helped Audrey and the other mechanics with the repairing of a pipe (his fire ability has more than just the burning-someone-to-death ability). Milo, however, tried to spend most of his time sitting on his bunk, deciphering the _Journal_. Oftentimes, he would show Maria or someone else something that he found to be a breakthrough - a passage of Atlantean text about fruit, the geography, even the path to the city itself and whatever defensive measure that might have been placed.

Maria turned and walked through a door and into the interior of the ship, planning on finding Mr. Whitmore or someone else she could have a conversation with.

Over the loudspeaker, Wilhelmina - or Mrs. Packard - said flatly, "All hands to the launch bay. To whoever who took the Alpha Motor Pool sign, haha, we are all very amused." The way she said it made Maria chuckle under her breath, despite having heard the statement before. The teen started jogging for the elevator, where almost everyone else on the ship was moving in order to get to the sub. At one of the elevators, she was joined by Riku and Lea, as well as the some of the more essential team members Whitmore had chosen for the expedition.

"It's nice to see you, redhead," Audrey greeted Lea. "You coming on this trip?"

"Yup," Lea replied. "Same with Riku and Maria. No use letting the Heartless destroy the sub before we can cast off."

Audrey nodded in approval. "No use letting all our hard work go to waste."

The elevator they were standing on started descending to the lower decks of the ship. As the group of chosen crewmen walked off, Wilhelmina reported again, "All hands to the launch bay. This is the final call."

Maria started walking to the sub, which Whitmore called the _Ulysses_, as the other elevators came down for the last time. The others followed her.

"It's good to see you kids," Whitmore greeted. "What'd you think?" he asked, motioning to the sub.

"It's great!" Maria replied. "Never thought I'd get to see a ship that could go under the water." In reality, she was eager to _ride_ in one for the first time, seeing as she had already seen plenty of them on her home planet - seeing as the calendars here were all set in the 1940s, before - or during - World War II.

"Do you think there are others who mighty have come up with this technology?" Riku asked. Maria blinked, mentally recalling the U-Boats - the subs the Germans used.

"I doubt it," Audrey remarked. "I've made sure that nobody tells, on threat of my big sister coming and wringing their necks in the middle of the night."

Lea gulped.

Maria nodded. "When we get back, I'll make sure to keep my mouth shut."

Audrey nodded in approval, then walked onto the sub, followed by Sweet, Mole, Maria, Riku, and Lea.

As the groups split for their respective cabins, Maria said to Audrey, "Whitmore said that we were going to have to sleep in a cargo hold or something. Do you happen to have any idea about what would be the best place?"

Audrey frowned. "Well, the land transports might be the most safe, if you feel like sleeping on leather seats."

"Anything would be better than the steel floor," Lea said. "So long as we can have blankets, then I'm good."

"There should be some in the back of the transports." Audrey pointed down a corridor. "That way, and to the left. You should find a ladder leading down to the transport hold. By the way, I think you ought to be at the bridge when we dive."

"And which way might that be?" Riku inquired.

"I know where," Lea said. "Audrey had me memorize the blueprints for this thing in case it sprung a leak. This way." He led Riku and Maria down a corridor, turned some quarters, and went down some ladders. After that, they came out in the glass sphere that was at the front of the sub.

Maria looked around, taking in the activities around her. Commander Rourke stood on a platform high above everything that was going on, Helga positioned nearby. Remembering the events that had taken place in the movie, Maria looked up at them, feeling somewhat defiant. _It's incredible how they managed to fool everybody._ She looked around, watching as the crew members ran about, making sure that everything was in order.

Then, Mrs. Packard called, "Prepare to dive."

"Lieutenant, take her down," Rouke ordered.

Helga then started calling orders and coordinates. The crew instantly responded, pulling levers and turning wheels.

The bridge was suddenly shaken as the sub was dropped from the ship and into the water. It sunk into the depths, leaving the world of light.

Maria caught sight of Milo, standing on a walkway right next to the glass sphere, watching as they dropped. She shook her head, wondering what he would think if he saw what could be done in Atlantis. However, she didn't say a word. Instead, she simply smiled at the thought of everything that was possible there.

After the engines had kicked in and the _Ulysses_ had set its course, Audrey met up with them.

"We were supposed to meet up here for some reason," she explained. "Something about a meeting concerning something about Atlantis."

Maria realized what she meant. "That means it's Milo's turn to shine," she remarked. "You guys have helped get this journey started. Now it's his turn."

"Milo Thatch, please report to the bridge," Mrs. Packard called over the loudspeaker.

A couple minutes later, Milo and the rest of the exploration team assembled at the bridge. A couple crewmen brought a marker board and a projector of sorts for Milo to use.

"So, what might be ahead of us?" Lea asked Milo.

Milo looked nervously at the group, which Maria recalled to be his first _actual _audience, anything previous being nothing more than dummies, busts, or old, dusty masks.

Milo quickly started, "Well, legend tells of a guardian of Atlantis." He started fumbling with some photos, accidentally putting one of him at the beach into the projector, before replacing it with a picture from the _Journal, _depicting a giant, lobster-like creature destroying a ship. "It was supposed to be a great, fearsome beast called the Leviathan that would drag ships into the depths of the sea. Kind of like the Kraken, if there's any similarity at all. However, it was said to be able to shoot fire out of its mouth, which I think is impossible for the technology of their time."

"So, we're looking for a statue of some kind?" Rourke guessed.

Milo nodded. "Probably."

"And then we dig!" Mole said excitedly.

"Actually, we don't _have_ to dig," Milo replied. He turned the projector off, then grabbed a blue marker and started drawing on the white board. "The passageway leads to an air pocket, which is connected to the ancient highways of Atlantis, which should eventually lead us to the ancient city." Milo drew the path they we going to take, adding, "Kind of like the pipes of your kitchen sink."

"Linguist and plumber," Audrey muttered sarcastically to Mole. "It's a wonder he's still single."

Mole tried to say something along those lines about Audrey, but she pushed him away before he could, earning a smirk and a quiet snicker from Maria.

Milo, having not heard the exchange or the laughter, capped the marker, feeling a little pleased with himself about actually managing to get through that. "Any questions?"

Rourke pulled him off to one side to get a closer look at the book. A couple minutes later, Mrs. Packard started saying, "Commander."

Rourke sighed. "What is it, Mrs. Packard?"

"I think I'm hearing something. I'll put it on speaker."

A low rumbling noise was instantly heard throughout the sub. Milo stopped glaring at Rourke and started to look around on bewilderment. So did almost everyone else.

Maria shuddered, and she walked over to the glass sphere, looking out of it with a nervous gaze, trying to pick something out of the dark ocean water. "It's coming," she murmured under her breath, fear in her voice.

Riku and Lea, who were standing next to her, took note of the worried look on her face.

"It?" Lea ventured, frowning slightly.

Maria nodded. "The Leviathan."

A crewman called out, "Commander, there seems to be something on the ocean floor."

"Turn on external lights," Rourke ordered.

Two spotlights appeared outside, illuminating the floor. It was covered in sunken ships.

"Incredible," Helga murmured.

"There are ships from every era of history," Milo remarked, adjusting his glasses.

Maria nodded. "Those ships are the ones that have been taken down by the Leviathan," she told Lea and Riku. The teen bit her lower lip. "We're going to be in for the ride of our lives any second now."

Suddenly, the sound stopped. An instant later, the sub was grabbed by a giant claw and held at an angle. The crew instantly started running for battle stations while Audrey ran to the lower levels of the sub to check on any leaks.

Milo was standing on the glass sphere with Maria and the others, looking out at the Leviathan's red eye.

Milo let out a gasp. "Jiminy Christmas! It's a _machine_!"

"Let's move, now!" Rourke called. "To the sub pods, quickly!"

"This way!" Lea said, running off. Maria, Riku, and the rest of the expedition team followed, Milo stumbling after them.

Water was starting to pour into the sub, now, meaning that Audrey had been unable to stop the flow. She joined those who were running for the pods.

By the time Lea had led the group to the pods, there was only one left.

"Everyone in, now!" Rourke ordered. Everyone jumped into the pod, buckling themselves into the seats. They then took off into the water, leaving the sub behind...

...just as it exploded.

"What are we looking for, Milo?" Rourke asked.

"Some sort of crevice," Milo replied. He was gripping his seat tightly, as was Maria, who was keeping her teeth clenched to prevent herself rom screaming in terror at the high speed ride and the prospect of getting killed by the monster that was chasing them.

"There!" Helga exclaimed, pointing at a crack in the floor in front of them.

There was a shriek from the giant lobster as it grabbed a pod in front of them, swimming across their path as electricity arched through the water. Maria was amazed that none of it had gotten to them and shorted out the pod's systems.

"Go, go, go!" Lea muttered. "We should make a break for it while the sushi is busy with that one."

Maria shuddered at the statement, but knew that Lea was right. The sacrifice was a worth one...but that still didn't mean the girl had hardened her heart to the killing.

The pod lurched forward, picking up speed. The Leviathan zapped the pod it had grabbed and came back around for another. However, it didn't get their pod, even after sending shots of electricity through the tunnel they went through.

As they went into the tunnel, Maria let out a sigh of relief. "That was too close."

"Yeah," Milo agreed. Both he and her were shaking at what had just occurred.

Up ahead, a couple pods started to rise. Above them, there were some lights, as well as the top of the water level.

"That must be the air pocket Milo was going on about," Riku remarked.

Once they had surfaced, Maria opened up the hatch on top to have a look around.

They seemed to be in some sort of cave, complete with high ceilings and the darkness that fuzzed the edges of everything. In the distance, the other pods had somehow managed to beach on solid ground, where those who managed to survive the Leviathan's attack had gathered. Beside them was a small pod, in which Vinny and Mole had fled from the Leviathan.

"Straight ahead to those lights," Maria told Rourke. "We can meet up with the others there."

As they beached, Rourke walked over to the remaining crew members. "Are you those who survived?"

The crewmen nodded.

"Well, we can't head back," Riku remarked.

"Unless you want to meet the Kraken's cousin," Lea muttered. He looked around, taking note of how few people actually got out. "Man, this expedition's gonna be a bit harder than we thought."

Rourke looked at Milo. "Well, son, you and that blasted book got us into this mess, and you're going to get us out of it. Lead us to Atlantis, Milo."

Milo nodded. "I'll try, Commander. I haven't got the _Journal_ fully translated, so it might take a while."

"Atlantis may as well be our ticket out of here, Milo," Riku said. "We have the rest of our lives to look for it."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Audrey asked. "Let's find this place and get it over with."

They joined up with those who remained and left the beach with whatever equipment they had left.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Liz glared at the puddle of water she was pushing around with her mop. Silver had asked her to swab the deck with Kairi and Sora, and she was beginning to feel a little annoyed with the job. The ship was so large, even with three people it would take a couple hours to finish.

On one side of the ship, there was a loud noise. Doppler ran over to the rail.

"Upon my word, an Orctus Galacticus," he said in awe. The dog quickly took out a camera to get a picture. "Smile."

"Uh, Doctor, I'd suggest you stand clear -" Amelia started.

_Too late_, Liz thought as the space-whale spewed a mucus-like liquid on Doppler. The dog's camera then flashed.

Silver walked up behind Amelia. "Ah, 'tis a fine day for sailin', Captain. And look at you. You're as trim and bonny as a sloop with new sails and a fresh coat of paint."

Amelia looked at him. "You can keep that kind of flim-flannery for your spaceport floozies, Silver."

"I speak nothing but me heart at all times," Silver said.

"Nothing but me heart," Morph repeated.

Amelia looked up. "By the way, isn't that your cabin boy aimlessly footing about?"

Silver nodded. "Yep, it - oh..." He started to look a little panicked, but then calmed himself. "A momentary aberration, Cap'n, soon to be addressed. Jimbo!"

Jim looked down from his perch near a solar sail.

"I got two new friends I want you to meet!"

Jim came down, expecting to shake someone's hand and start talking about the ship.

Silver showed him what he had given Liz. "Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket."

Jim looked bored. "Yippie." He grabbed the mop. "Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop."

He started mopping, then ran into one of the crew members.

The large, muscled man let out a growl. "Watch it, twerp."

Jim started to slow in his work as the rest of the crew looked at him.

"What are you looking at, weirdo?" asked a man with a tentacle beard. The head then walked off, revealing that the rest of the body had a head in the chest area.

"Yeah, weirdo?" the chest repeated.

There was a loud hiss as a figure stepped out. Liz took one look at the red figure with his pincers and quickly adopted a glare.

"Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business," the figure hissed.

"What do you mean by that?" Sora asked. "That you've got something to hide?"

The figure looked at him. "Maybe your ears don't work so well." He walked over to him.

Liz, who was standing nearby, plugged her nose. "Too bad our noses work just fine."

The figure glared at her. "Why you impudent little -"

The crew took notice of the fight starting to brew up between between the cabin boys and the red figure.

"Go ahead!" one called. "Slice 'em! Dice 'em!"

The slug released a series of noises, probably saying something similar.

The figure turned to the children. "Any last words?"

In the distance, someone said, "Mr. Scroop."

The figure, who was most likely being addressed, didn't notice. Instead, he turned to Jim. "You ever see what happens to a purp when you squeeze real hard?" He snapped his pincers for emphasis.

Arrow suddenly thrust his way through the crowd. "What's all this, then? You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship."

There was a unanimous "Aye, aye, sir."

"Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage," Arrow continued. He glared at Scroop. "Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"

Scroop glared at him. "Transparently."

"Well done, Mr. Arrow, sir!" Silver exclaimed as the crowd scattered. "A tight ship is a happy ship, sir."

Arrow looked at him carefully, then walked off.

Silver glared at the kids. "I gave all of you a job to do."

"And we were doing it until that bug thing -" Kairi started.

"Belay that!" Silver interrupted. "Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless. And heaven help ya if I come back and it's not done." He looked at Morph, who was floating beside him as usual. "Morph, I want you to keep an eye on this young pup, and let me know if there be any more distractions."

"O.K.!" Morph saluted. "Aye, aye." He flew over to Jim and transformed into a giant eyeball, which looked at them in turn.

Liz chuckled and turned back to her mopping.

After about fifteen minutes of mopping, Jim let out a sigh. "Well, this has been a fun day..." he looked at Morph. "Making new friends with that spider-psycho."

Morph transformed into a small version of Scroop. "Spider-psycho, spider-psycho," he chanted.

Liz grinned. "Heh. A little uglier."

Morph made Scroop's head huge. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Jim smirked. "Pretty close."

"Well, thank heavens for little miracles," Silver remarked as he reappeared from who knows where. "The deck's still in one piece."

Jim looked a little embarrassed. "Look, I, uh... What you did... Thanks."

Silver came closer to Jim. "Didn't your pap ever teach you to pick your fights more carefully?"

Jim looked away from Silver, his silence providing a better answer.

Silver got the message. "Your father's not the teaching sort."

"No," Jim replied. He started attacking the deck, cleaning thoroughly with his mop. "He was more the taking off and never coming back sort."

"Oh. Sorry lad."

Jim shrugged. "No big deal. I'm doing just fine."

Silver gave him a curious look. "Is that so? Well, since the captain put you in my charge, like it or not, I'll be pounding a few skills into that thick head of yours."

Jim looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"From now on," Silver continued, "I'm not letting you out of me sight."

"You can't do -" Jim protested.

"You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch my bum without my say so," Silver finished, talking over Jim.

"Don't do me any favors!" Jim growled.

"Oh, you can be sure of that, my lad, you can be sure of that," Silver muttered to himself. He took note that Liz, Sora, and Kairi had been watching the argument rather than working. "Oi! Put some elbow into it."

They started mopping again.

Over the next few days, Silver kept his word and watched Jim at all times. He did everything he could to keep the boy's attention, and even had all the children gathered together to learn how to tie certain knots that would be needed on the ship. Jim would usually get the knot done and then slip away, leaving the rope behind to show Silver that he was actually learning. Eventually, the two would sit out when everyone else was asleep, looking at the stars. Liz occasionally joined them, silently looking for constellations in the sky when she couldn't sleep. It was a great way to relax from all the work that Silver gave them during the day hours, when the entire ship's crew was active.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Liz was sitting in one of the lower decks, waiting for Silver and Jim to return. The two had started to bond, and therefore went out on a skiff pretty often, leaving Liz, Sora, and Kairi to do the chores that they left undone.

The skiff came up, containing the laughing pair of Silver and Jim.

"Oh, Jimbo," Silver said as he mopped his brow, "if I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age, they'd be bowing in the streets when I walked by today."

"Bowing in the streets!" Morph repeated.

Jim jumped out of the skiff and started to tie it down. "I don't know. They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home."

Silver let out a sigh, probably releasing a pent-up breath from the ride. Morph did the same.

"But I'm gonna change all that," Jim continued.

"Are you, now?" Silver asked, intrigued. "How so?"

"Uh, I got some plans," Jim replied carefully. Liz nodded in agreement. "Gonna make people see me a little different."

Silver's face became downcast. "Oh. Sometimes, plans go astray."

Jim shook his head as he finished tying up. "Not this time."

Silver stepped to of the skiff, only to let out a moan and examine his robotic leg. Morph flew down to get a better look, then transformed into a wrench.

"Oh, thank you, Morphy," Silver said. He took Morph in one hand and tightened a screw on his leg.

"So, how'd that happen, anyway?" Liz asked.

"You give up a few things, chasing a dream," Silver replied. He let Morph go, then stood up.

"Was it worth it?"

Silver let out a short laugh, then sighed. "I'm hoping it is, Liz. I'm hoping it is."

Above them, there was a sudden scream. The three looked at each other, then dashed up onto the top deck.

"What the devil?" Silver asked as they got up on deck.

"Good heavens," Doppler said, pointing at the great flash of light that had caused the screaming. "The star Pelusa has gone supernova!"

"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" Amelia shouted.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Turnbuckle replied.

"All hands, fasten your lifelines! Mr. Arrow, secure those sails!"

"Secure all sails!" Arrow called as the crewmen ran about, securing their lines and going up the rope ladders. Silver, Jim, Sora, Kairi, and Liz were among them. "Reef them down, men!"

One of the crewmen was having a fun time taking out the meteors of star that were hurtling towards them. "Yeah, baby! Ba-boom! Hah hah hah hah!"

Silver, tying down one side of a sail, suddenly lost his balance. "Aah!"

"Silver!" Jim exclaimed, grabbing his lifeline and hauling him up.

"Thanks, lad," Silver said.

"Captain! The star!" the lookout exclaimed.

"It's devolving into a..." Doppler let out a gasp. "Black hole!"

"We're being pulled in!" Turnbuckle called as he tried to turn the helm away from the space whirlpool. He was suddenly thrust back, leaving the wheel unattended.

"Oh, no you don't!" Amelia snapped as she took the wheel. The ship was then blasted by a wave from the black hole. "Blast these waves! They're deucedly erratic!"

"No, Captain!" Doppler called out. "They're not erratic at all! There'll be one more in precisely 4.2 seconds, followed by the biggest magilla of them all!"

Amelia seemed to be struck by an idea. "Of course! Brilliant, Doctor! We'll ride that last magilla out of here."

"All sails secured, Captain," Arrow reported as the crew started to come down from the masts.

"Good man!" Amelia called back. "Now release them immediately!"

Arrow looked confused. "Yes, Captain." He turned to the crew. "You heard her, men! Unfurl those sails!"

"What?" Liz demanded.

"But we just finished..." Sora started.

"Tying them down!" Kairi finished.

"Make up your bloomin' minds!" one of the crew shouted as everyone went back up the ladder.

"Mr. Hawkins, Miss Liz, make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight," Amelia ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain," the two said together. They went over to the main mast, where all the lifelines were tied, and started pulling on the ropes to make sure everything was secure.

When they were done, Jim called, "Lifelines secured, Captain!"

"Very good!" Amelia replied. The ship was then blasted by another wave. Everyone scrambled for a hold somewhere.

"Captain!" Doppler yelped. "The last wave! Here it comes!"

"Hold onto your lifelines, gents!" Amelia called. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

The lookout let out a whimper as the ship fell into the darkness of the black hole. A moment later, there was an explosion of light from within it, and the ship came blasting back out, powered up by the solar energy that was being released.

The crew started cheering as they climbed down from the sails, which were now unfurled.

Doppler ran over and hugged Amelia. "Captain! That was -" He suddenly caught sight of something and released the Captain. "Jim! It's those dark things!"

"They're called Heartless!" Liz shouted at him as her sword materialized. Sora's and Kairi's Keyblades appeared, as well. "Let's get 'em, guys!" The three charged at the group of dark creatures, weapons raised.

The crew scattered as the Heartless began to become more numerous, taking up a large amount of the deck. Liz, Sora, and Kairi were unfazed, however, and started hacking at them. Within a few minutes, not a single Heartless remained on the ship.

"They must have caused that star to go supernova," Liz remarked as their weapons vanished. "We probably picked them up when we were pulled in and then shot out."

Amelia blinked in surprise. "My, my. What did you call those creatures? Heartless?"

Sora nodded. "We've got a feeling that they may be after...something on this ship. Doppler let us tag along because of them."

Liz and Kairi nodded, affirming his statement.

Amelia looked at Silver. "Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Silver. It seems your cabin boys have been training quite well under your care. They did a bang-up job with those lifelines." The two chuckled.

"Everyone accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" Amelia asked, looking around. When there wasn't an answer, she repeated, "Mr. Arrow?"

Scroop walked through the crew, carrying the hat that Arrow had worn. "I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost," he said quietly. He glared at Liz and Jim. "His lifeline was not secure."

_Uh-oh,_ Liz thought.

Jim shook his head, a panicked look on his face. "No, no. We checked them all." Noticing the suspicious looks, he repeated, "We did. We checked them all. They were secure."

He and Liz ran over to the main mast, where the lifelines were still tied. One was missing.

"I swear," Jim said quietly.

Liz didn't say anything. She glared at Scroop instead.

Amelia ignored them. Instead, she stated, "Mr. Arrow was a...a fine spacer. Finer than most of us could ever could be. But he knew the risks, as do we all." She started to walk over to her stateroom, saying, "Resume your posts. We carry on."

The crew dispersed. Silver, however, walked over to where Jim was standing, decimated.

"It weren't your fault, you know?" he asked, putting his non-robotic hand on Jim's shoulder. "Why, half that crew would be spinning in that black abyss-"

"Don't you get it?" Jim demanded, turning on Silver. "I screwed up! For two seconds, I thought that maybe, I could do something right, but -" He let out a noise of frustration, pushing Silver's hand off him. "Forget it. Just forget it."

Silver frowned. "Now you listen to me, Jim Hawkins. You have the makings of greatness in ya, but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls, and when the time comes, and you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you're made of, well I hope I'm there, catching some of the sun coming off ya that day."

Jim looked over at him and, surprisingly, started to cry.

Silver started to comfort him. "There, there, lad. It's all right, Jimbo. It's all right." He glanced around nervously. "Now, uh, Jim, I best be getting about my watch, and you'd best be getting some shut-eye." He looked at Sora, Kairi, and Liz. "And that goes for you, too."

The three nodded. Sora, Kairi, and Jim walked away. Liz started to follow, hearing Silver mutter as she went, "Getting in too deep here, Morphy. Next thing you know, they'll be saying I've gone soft."


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Maria looked out of the truck at the path in front of them. So far, they had gone probably fifty or more miles, and there hadn't been a single speck of life anywhere. Just rocks and the occasional mural of Atlantean writings, which Milo would try to glance at before they could get too far. They had already passed a pit full of spikes, which they had easily bypassed using an ancient rope and pulley system Milo had taken note of. Once the rope had been replaced and the pulleys oiled, the trucks - and people - got over the pit quickly. There were a few more obstacles that Maria was aware of, but the question was about the order.

Next to Maria, Lea sat in the driver's seat, glaring at the truck in front of them. Milo, who was in said truck, had wanted to be the head of the pack, but he had no driving skills whatsoever (like Maria), so now he was being towed by Mole's giant drill. Lea, thanks to Audrey, knew something about how to drive, even though (so far as Maria knew) no such things had existed in Radiant Garden or the other worlds Lea had probably seen. Riku sat behind them, in the back of the truck, which was carrying wooden crates of one sort or another.

Lea suddenly stepped on the breaks as Mole's drill stopped. "Now what?" he asked, annoyed.

Maria got out and looked around Mole's drill. "The path splits up ahead!" she told Lea. "Milo has to look in the _Journal_ in order to let us continue." She climbed back into her seat. "A little advice - don't start driving on the first road Milo points out."

"Why?" Lea asked.

"Just watch Mole's drill. You'll see."

Milo pointed at the path to the left. Mole started driving forward. He reached a tunnel just as a giant insect popped out and growled menacingly.

Milo jumped, then flipped the book. He pointed to the right nervously. Most of the people glared at him as he got back into his ride and they continued on.

"Did that happen in what you saw in your world?" Lea asked as they drove.

Maria nodded. "Yeah. The book was actually upside-down, so Milo was reading it the wrong way."

Up ahead, there was a sudden shriek from Mole. Maria and Riku leapt out of the truck to see what was going on.

There was a small horde of Heartless on the drill on the front of Mole's vehicle.

"We'll take care of them," Maria called as she summoned her staff and Riku summoned his Keyblade. The two charged at the creatures and started to destroy them before they could do any damage to the drill. They managed to take out the last one before it could get to the window and smash it.

"Thank you, thank you," Mole said quickly as Maria's and Riku's weapons disappeared. "I don't know what I would have done without this."

"It was no problem, really," Maria replied as the two got back onto their respective truck. "Just let us know if more Heartless show up."

"Maria, you really seem to be holding your own with that thing," Lea noted. "Are you sure that you haven't done this before?"

"Positive," Maria replied.

"Because you seem to be pretty comfortable with the whole thing."

The teen frowned slightly, considering the situation. "I think it might have something to do with how comfortable I am in this world. I mean, I know what's going to happen in the future, and it makes me feel a little more confident."

Riku gave Maria a curious look, but said nothing that might have added to the conversation.

And so, the caravan continued on.

When they stopped for a break a few hours later, Milo grabbed a canteen of water from one of the trucks and glugged down a good deal of it. Vinny took notice, seeing as the water had been somewhere near a bunch of explosives.

"Did you just drink that?" the Italian asked carefully.

Milo nodded vigorously as he swallowed a large gulp.

"That's nitroglycerin," Vinny said, panicked.

Milo's eyes widened, and he grabbed at his throat.

"Now, don't move, don't blink, don't even breathe, or else you'll go -"

"BOOM!" Mole exclaimed from behind Milo. The young man jumped with a yell as the small, pudgy, dirty Frenchman burst out laughing.

Milo glared at them, but didn't say anything. He probably didn't want to after that.

Maria walked over to Vinny, having watched all this transpire from a short distance away. "Did you do that just because?"

Vinny shrugged. "I needed something to boost my spirits. Milo provided it." He smiled to himself, then went back to attending to his explosives.

"Well, I don't consider it very kind of you," Maria replied. "He is, after all, the one who is carrying the book that will lead us to Atlantis. Maybe he's even the only one who will lead us to whatever has the most historical value." She gave a careless shrug. "Keep that in mind." Then she walked off.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

About two weeks or so into the trip, Liz woke up in the morning to find the lookout staring at her with a hungry look on his face. Before he could make a move, he found Liz's sword pointing at his nose.

"Don't make any wrong moves, or I'll shish-kabob you," she growled.

The lookout's eyes widened as soon as he saw the blade. Even from his perch in the crow's nest, he had seen Liz, Sora, and Kairi destroying the Heartless that had started to appear more frequently. He let out a yelp and backed away quickly.

Liz let her sword vanish, then started to get up out of her hammock. After sending another glare at the lookout, who scurried away from the area, she sat down and pulled on her white shoes, which had somehow managed to remain unscuffed for the entire journey.

A distance away from her, the slug who spoke Flatula was snoring in his own way. One especially long snore startled the crewman sleeping below him, which was actually Jim.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed as he fell to the floor next to his boots. He started to slowly pull them on, one to have one start hopping away from him.

"Morph?" Jim asked, sluggish.

The boot stopped bouncing and looked back at the sleepy cabin boy.

"Morph, knock it off. It's too early for this."

The boot came completely around, hopped back to Jim, and kicked him.

"Ow! Hey, Morph!" Jim exclaimed.

The boot stuck a tongue out of the toe and raspberried at Jim. Then it went and hid behind a chest.

Jim let out a laugh. "Hey, come back here!" he said. He went over and looked behind the trunk.

"Come back here!" Morph mimicked, flying away with Jim's actual boot in his grip.

Morph flew out to the upper deck, Jim and Liz following as the rest of the crew began to stir. He dropped the boot, which Jim grabbed, and then started to fly around the deck before Liz grabbed him.

Jim caught up. "That's it, you little squid."

Morph giggled and released himself from Liz's grip, transforming into Jim's head as he did so. "You little squid," he mimicked, slipping through the grate at Liz's feet. Then he popped back up as two heads, which Jim tried to hit.

"Squid, squid, squid, squid," Morph chanted as he came up as smaller and more numerous heads. Then he stopped coming up.

Jim and Liz looked at each other, then slipped into the galley, the room that Morph had slipped into. They started to look around, searching for something that seemed out of place.

Jim looked into one of the barrels full of purps, finding the little pink blob. "Aha!" he exclaimed, diving into the barrel. "Busted!"

Someone started coming down the stairs. Liz, not wanting to miss what was going to happen next or get caught, jumped into another barrel of purps not far from Jim's.

"Look, all I'm saying is that we're sick of all this waiting," one of the crewmen said.

"There's only six of them left," another added.

"We are wanting to move," a third stated.

"We don't move till we got the treasure in hand," Silver growled.

"I say we kill them all now," Scroop growled.

"I say what's to say!" Silver snapped. "Disobey my orders again like that stunt you pulled with Mr. Arrow, and so help me you'll be joining him!"

Liz knew that Jim was really surprised by what he was hearing.

"Strong talk, but I know otherwise," Scroop hissed. He walked over to Jim's barrel and started feeling around for a purp.

"You got something to say, Scroop?" Silver growled.

"It's that boy. Methinks you have a soft spot for him." Scroop brought up a purp and poked a hole in it.

"Yeah," the others in the room agreed.

"Now mark me, the lot of ya," Silver said quickly. "I care about one thing, and one thing only. Flint's trove. You'd think I'd risk it all for the sake of some nose-wiping whelp?"

"What was it now?" Scroop muttered. "Oh. 'You've got the makings of greatness in ya'?"

"Shut yer yap!" Silver snapped back. "I cozied up to the kid to keep him off our scent. But I ain't gone soft."

Above, there was the cry, "Land ho!" The pirates quickly ran up the stairs to look at what was out there. Liz and Jim took the opportunity to climb of of their barrels.

"We've reached our destination," Liz told Jim. "That's what they're looking at out there."

Silver limped back into the galley, muttering to himself, "Where the devil's me glass?" He stopped at the base of the stairs when he caught sight of the glare Jim had on his face. "Jimbo." He took note of Liz and Morph, who was now floating next to Jim, and moved his hands behind his back. "Playing games, are we?"

"Yeah," Liz replied.

"Yeah, we're playing games," Jim said in agreement. He reached for a knife that was on a table behind him.

"Oh, I see," Silver said. Liz knew his robotic arm had shifted to become a weapon. "I was never really all that good at playing games. Always hated to lose." There was an audible click from behind his back.

"Me, too!" Jim replied. He moved quickly and stuck his knife in Silver's robotic leg. Then he ran out of the galley, followed by Liz and Morph.

"Come on!" Liz said. "We've got to warn the others."

There was an audible whistle as Silver stepped out of the galley, his robotic arm a sword. "Change of plan, lads!" he yelled. "We move now!"

The entire crew cheered.

Liz grabbed Sora and Kairi as the flag on the main mast was exchanged with a black flag with Flint's skull on it: a pirate's flag.

"Pirates?" Kairi asked, worried.

Sora, however, looked excited. "This is so cool!" he exclaimed.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Sora," Liz warned. "This isn't Jack Sparrow's crew. They're more likely to have us dead than become a part of them. Come on!" They ran into the stateroom, where Jim, Doppler, Morph, and Amelia were already hiding.

"Pirates on my ship," Amelia muttered to herself as she opened a cabinet. "I shall see they all hang." She tossed a gun to Doppler. "Are you familiar with these, Doctor"

"Well, I've seen - I've read - " the gun Doppler was holding fired a shot into the floor. "No, no I'm not."

Amelia chuckled, then tossed the brass orb that was the treasure map at Jim. "Mr. Hawkins, defend this with your life!"

Morph looked at the sphere with interest and snatched it away from Jim.

"Morph, give me that!" Jim barked.

The pink blob didn't listen and dove into the hole in the floor instead.

"We need to go after that thing," Liz said. She summoned her sword and jumped through the hole after it. Jim and the others quickly followed.

"Quick! To the long boats!" Amelia called.

"Right," Doppler replied quickly.

They reached a docking bay just as Jim spotted Morph flying to the other door. Liz could hear the pirates shouting; no doubt they had figured out where they had gone.

"Morph, No!" Jim exclaimed as the pirates started to come in.

Amelia, who was already in the longboat with Sora, Kairi, and Doppler, also saw the pirates. "Chew on this, you pus-filled boils!" she roared, firing at the pirates

Doppler covered his eyes and fired in a random direction. He hit a beam of wood, which came crashing down on the pirates.

"Did you actually mean to do that?" Amelia asked him.

Doppler looked at the gun, then at what had happened. "Yes, yes I did!"

Above them, the gears that were lowering the longboat suddenly stopped working. Below them, the opening in the ship started to close.

"Blast!" Amelia exclaimed. "Doctor, when I say 'now,' shoot the forward cable. I'll take this one."

Doppler nodded and sat himself in the bow in the ship.

Meanwhile, Liz and Jim were trying to coax Morph to give them back the map. Silver, who had spotted them, was trying to coax Morph to give him the map.

"Morph, here, Morph!" Jim called.

"Come here, Morph, bring it here," Silver coaxed. He started to whistle, thinking it would give him some leverage.

Morph started to float over to Silver, keeping the map in his mouth.

"Morph!" Liz exclaimed, catching the blob's attention. "Bring it here, Morph."

"Come here, come here, boy," Silver called. "Come to your dad."

Morph started to look between the three, an increasingly confused look on its face. Eventually, it decided to dive into a coil of rope.

Jim and Silver dove for the rope, but Jim got to it, first. Grabbing the map, he and Liz jumped into the longboat just as Amelia exclaimed, "Now!"

The ropes were cut apart by the bullets and the boat fell through the opening in the floor just before it closed, leaving a devastated Silver.

"Parameters met, hydraulics engaged," Amelia muttered as the longboat took off.

There was a sudden explosion from the ship.

"Captain!" Jim exclaimed. "Laser ball at nine o' clock!"

Amelia started to move the longboat out of the way, but it was too late; the laser ball took out the solar sails, sending the group spiraling down to the ground. It was a bumpy landing: the boat flew through a giant mushroom, then skipped on the ground, flipping over completely before skidding to a halt.

Doppler let out a sigh as he got out of the boat. "Oh, my goodness. That was more fun than I never want to have again."

Amelia chuckled as she and the others got off, as well. "That wasn't one of my gossamer landings." She suddenly clutched her side and collapsed.

"Captain!" Kairi exclaimed. She quickly started to help Amelia up.

"No, no, don't fuss," Amelia said as she tried to stand on her own. "Only a slight bruising." She started to collapse again, but Kairi was there to hold her up. "Cup of tea, and I'll be right as rain." She looked at Jim, who was holding the map. "Mr. Hawkins, the map, of you please."

Jim started to press buttons on the sphere, but it let out a giggle and transformed into...Morph!

"Morph, where's the map?" Sora asked.

Morph split in two and became a coil of rope and the map. The sphere flew into the coil of rope.

"Are you serious? It's back on the ship?" Jim demanded.

Morph became his blobby self and nodded.

Amelia looked up. "Stifle that blob and get low," she growled. "We've got company, and need a more defendable location."

A longboat was coming out of the ship, with Silver in it.

"Mr. Hawkins, Miss Liz, scout ahead," Amelia ordered.

"Aye-aye, Captain," the two said.

Amelia let out a grunt and held her side.

"Steady," Doppler warned. "Now, let's have a look at that."

Liz and Jim left the crash landing site and started to look around for a place to hide.

"Y'know, I've been hoping to ask you something this entire trip," Jim said as they walked.

"What's that?" Liz asked as she peered into some reeds.

"What's your home like?"

"Not like yours, that's for sure," Liz replied, looking around. "Or this place, for that matter. We aren't really visited by aliens, and we don't have very many ships that can travel between planets, and we certainly don't have creatures like Morph." She looked pointedly at the little blob. "Everybody that can walk on two legs and talk is human, but we do have animals that we keep as pets." She paused. "Do you get the feeling that there's someone watching us?" she asked.

Suddenly, a rusty robot with a compass on its chest burst out of the reeds Liz had just been looking in and hugged Jim.

"A carbon-based life form here to rescue me at last!" It exclaimed, hugging Jim. "Oh, I just want to hug you and squeeze you and hold you close to me."

Liz smirked at the sight.

"All right, okay, would you just let go of me?" Jim demanded as he tried to push away from the robot.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the robot said as it released Jim. "It's just that I've been marooned for so long. Solitude's fine, don't get me wrong, but after one hundred years, YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS!"

The last bit he yelled in Liz's face.

Realizing what it just did, the robot backed up. "I'm sorry, am I...I am, um... My name is, uh..."

Liz and Jim exchanged looks while the robot fumbled with its words. Morph transformed into a miniature of the robot and made cuckoo noises.

"B.E.N.!" the robot burst out. "Of course, I am B.E.N." He tapped the compass on his chest, explaining, "Bioelectronic Navigator."

The compass popped out, held in the air by a spring coming from B.E.N.'s insides. He pushed it back in.

"And you two are?" B.E.N. asked.

"Jim," Jim replied.

"Liz," Liz said.

"Nice to meet you, Jimmy, Lizzy," B.E.N. said.

"It's Jim and Liz," Liz corrected.

"Anyway-"

"Look, we're in kind of a hurry, okay?" Jim asked, annoyed. "We've got to find this place to hide, and there's pirates chasing us."

"Pirates!" B.E.N. exclaimed. "Don't get me started on pirates. I don't like them. I remember Captain Flint. That guy had such a temper."

"Wait, you knew Captain Flint?" Liz asked.

"I think he suffered from mood swings, personally," B.E.N. continued, ignoring the question. "I'm not a therapist, and anyway..." He trailed off. Looking at Liz and Jim, he said, "You let me know when I'm rambling, will ya?"

"But that means..." Liz looked at Jim, who realized where she was going with this.

"You should know about the treasure, then," Jim said to B.E.N.

"Treasure?" the robot repeated.

"You know, Flint's trove? The loot of a thousand worlds?"

B.E.N. looked nervous. "Yes, we'll, it's-it's-it's a little-little-little fuzzy." He looked at Jim. "Wait. I-I r-r-remember! Treasure! Buried in the centroid-centroid-centroid of the mechanism. And there was this big door opening and closing and opening and closing. And Captain Flint wanted to make sure that nobody could get to his treasure, so I helped him-" the robot started to splutter. "Warning! Warning! Inconsistent data! Reboot! Reboot!"

"B.E.N.?" Jim asked. "B.E.N.!"

The robot gave him a blank look. "And you are?"

"Wait! What about the treasure?" Jim demanded.

"I'd like to say Larry," the robot muttered to himself.

"The centroid of the mechanism!" Jim shouted at B.E.N., hoping to jog its memory.

"I'm sorry, but my memory's not what it used to be," the robot said. "I've lost my mind. Ha-ha! Lost my mind." It looked at Liz. "You haven't found it, have you?" It turned around and pointed at some wires poking out the back of its head. "My missing piece? My primary memory circuit?"

"Look, B.E.N.," Liz said with a sigh, "we really need to find a place to hide. So we're gonna be, y'know, moving on."

B.E.N. looked at her and sighed. "Oh. I guess this is good-bye, then, huh? I'm sorry that I'm so dysfunctional. So go ahead and...I do understand. I do. Bye-bye."

Liz, Jim, and Morph looked at each other.

Jim let out a sigh. "Look, if you want to come along, you're going to have to stop talking."

B.E.N. grabbed Jim in a bear hug. "Oh, this is fantastic! Me and my best new buddies are looking for a..." It saw the look on Jim's face. "Being quiet," he whispered.

"And you have to stop touching me," Jim added.

B.E.N. released him from the hug. "Talking and touching, my two big no-nos."

"O.K., now I think we should head -" Liz started.

"Hey, before we go on our big search," B.E.N. interrupted, "can we make a quick pit stop at my place?" The robot pulled back the reeds he had popped out of, revealing a giant "building" made of earth in the distance. "It's kind of urgent," it added with a nervous chuckle.

"B.E.N, I think you just solved our problem," Jim said.

"I'll go get the others," Liz said. She turned around and ran back to the longboat.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

About a week or so into the journey, the expedition group had passed through more caves and tunnels then Maria could count, and were now stopped by a giant wall. Vinny, after commenting on how it was too bad they didn't have any nitroglycerin to Milo, told Rourke that he didn't have enough to blow a hole in the wall.

Mole cackled excitedly when he heard this.

"Well, Mole," Rourke said, "I guess now we have to dig."

"It would be my pleasure," Mole said with a grin. He started up his giant drill and proceeded to drive up to it in order to start digging. However, something in the engine suddenly gave out, stopping the vehicle right in front of the wall.

Mole let out a cry of frustration and banged his head on the wheel, causing the horn to go off as he slammed a fist into the dash.

Audrey opened up the back of the drill to have a look at the motor. Milo and Maria came over to have a look out of curiosity, as well.

"Look's like the rotor's shot," Audrey sighed. "I'll go get the spare."

"Actually, I think -" Milo started.

"Don't. Touch. Anything," Audrey growled at him. She then turned around and walked to one of the trucks.

Milo crawled into the back of the drill and started turning wheels. Then he hit a pipe with a wrench. The engine roared to life.

Mole lifted his head from the steering wheel at the sound, a grin appearing on his face. "She lives!" he cried.

Audrey ran over and glared at Milo. "What did you do?" she demanded.

"Well -" Milo then went into a long explanation about the boiler and how he was supposed to keep an eye on one exactly like it back at the Institute.

Audrey glared at him as she slammed the back door of the drill back into place. She made a fist, causing Milo to flinch. "Two for flinching," she growled, punching Milo twice.

Milo rubbed his arm as she stomped off.

The group then continued on through the tunnel, stopping when they broke through on the other side, which led to a great cavern, it's only light a giant yellow rock suspended in the ceiling like some sort of chandelier.

"That is freaky," Vinny said, pointing to the glowing rock. "That is going to keep me up all night."

"Same here," Lea agreed. His fingers sparked with small flames. "There's something about it that just makes me feel on edge."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep, either," Maria remarked. "Maybe you could try to teach me how to use Fire magic, Lea." She summoned her staff, eager for the start of a lesson.

"After dinner," Riku said, noticing Cookie's approach.

Maria made a face. "Not that stuff again!" she moaned, noticing the cauldron he was pushing. "I'd rather face Hamburger Helper meals, or my uncle's Chicken Goop!" Her staff vanished as Cookie got closer.

"How bad are those?" Milo asked.

"Pretty good, compared to that!" Maria replied, pointing an accusing finger at the cauldron.

"Well, ya just have to eat it whether you like it or not!" Cookie retorted as he handed her an empty tray. Then he took his ladle and dumped the goopy contents on to it. "Bon appetit," he muttered before giving the same to the others. Then he rolled the cauldron off and gave the rest of the crew their evening meal, muttering about how inconsiderate the younger generation was these days.

Lea sniffed his dinner and thrust his head back. "This stuff smells like fertilizer!" he exclaimed.

"Or something worse," Maria muttered to herself. She took a small amount in one hand and let it seep thought her fingers. "Consistency of mud," she declared. "Mud over-saturated with water. To be honest, I could give it a worse name, but that would just ruin my appetite."

"I think we already have," Lea remarked as he look at his food with disgust. "And you're right - we could give it a worse name."

Milo sat down on a rock and sighed. "If Cookie keeps giving us this stuff, I think we'll start eating rocks instead."

"I don't think Mole would mind that," Maria said as she sat down next to Milo. The other two followed suit. "I think he even likes this stuff."

"Hey, Milo!" someone called. Everyone looked over to see Audrey motioning for them to come over. "How about you and those kids come over here?"

Milo looked a little curious. "You mean that?"

"Yeah - get over here!"

The four got up and walked over, taking four places that lay open.

"Thanks, guys," Milo said as he sat down. There was a sudden explosion of sound as he did. A certain Frenchman suddenly burst out into loud laughter.

"Mole!" the others shouted.

Mole fell off his seat and rolled around on the cave floor, still laughing loudly. "Oh! I couldn't resist."

Maria shook her head. "How did he even bring that?" she asked, pointing to the deflated whoopee cushion Milo was sitting on.

Audrey shrugged. Then she noticed that Milo had his nose in the _Journal_ again. "Milo, haven't you gone through that, like, ten times already?"

"Yeah, but every time I go through it, I discover new technologies they had," Milo said. "Look at this - flying machines, lighting; it's just incredible." He looked at the others. "Of course, you guys probably aren't as interested as I am. Why'd you come along, anyway? The history, or the money?"

"Money," everyone except Maria, Lea, and Riku said.

"And you three?" Sweet asked, pointing at the three kids with his fork.

"I'm here for the adventure," Maria replied simply. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with leaving home for a little trip into the unknown to cement one's independence, is there?"

"I don't know about that," Sweet remarked. "Too much adventure could be bad for your health."

Milo started rubbing his neck. Sweet took note. He got up, walked over to Milo, and cracked his neck for him.

"Better?" the doctor asked.

Milo tested his neck by moving his head around. "Yeah," he said. "How'd you do that?"

"Native American trick I learned from my mother," Sweet explained. He showed Milo, Riku, Lea, and Maria an picture of an African American man and a Native American woman standing together. In a basket on the woman's back was a baby. "Dad made sure that I got the rest of the education I needed."

Mole gave Maria's dinner a hungry look. "May I?" he asked.

"Go ahead," Maria replied. "I'm not hungry." She handed the tray to him.

Mole eagerly started wolfing down the disgusting mush like he was nothing more than an animal. Maria turned away so that she wouldn't have to watch.

"So, what are you kids here for - besides the adventure?" Audrey asked.

"The Heartless," Lea replied simply. "If we weren't here, they would have stolen all your Hearts, and no one would have heard from you again." He leaned forward slightly, the fire giving his visage a rather sinister look. "No one."

There was silence around the campfire.

"Y'know, I don't think we shouldn't be anywhere near this stuff, not even smelling distance," Maria remarked as she pointed at the pile of unidentifiable mush on everyone else's trays.

Everyone nodded in agreement and dumped their food on the campfire. It exploded with a mushroom cloud of smoke.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Maria summoned her staff while Milo and the others pitched their tents. Lea was standing in front of her, arms crossed.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Maria nodded. "Yup."

"O.K. First step: put away your little toy."

Maria looked startled. "Why?"

"Because I can use Fire without one of those, so I'm going to teach you the same techniques I know."

Maria nodded, then sent away her staff. "Now what?"

"Now I start teaching!" Lea replied with a smirk. "Fire's not like the other magics out there. It can be a bit unpredictable, if you know what I mean."

Maria nodded. "Yeah, seeing as it can go from smoldering embers to a roaring forest fire if you aren't to careful."

"Right. Like with the other magics, you gotta focus all your power, but you can't release it out of any sort of staff or sword. At least, not normally. You gotta use your body to release it - normally your hands would work best, but I've heard of people who would let it out through their heads as an added effect."

"Like their head's a torch," Maria noted.

Lea nodded. "Exactly. It's just for show, though. What I'm gonna teach ya is how to actually use fire. First, concentrate on something that makes you mad."

"Mad?" Maria repeated.

"That's how I discovered my firepower. Siax was being a bit of a bossy jerk and I torched him." The grin faded from Lea's face and he turned to a rock wall, roaring, "Xehanort!" He let out a huge blast of fire which could have easily burned Maria to a crisp if he had been aiming at her.

Riku, who was standing nearby with his arms crossed, shook his head quietly. "As least you didn't aim at the camp."

Maria nodded in agreement, a little shaken at the show of power. But then she realized that Lea was showing her exactly what she had to do in order to awaken her powers. She started searching her memories for an angering moment that might do the trick. _Let's see...no, not that time...nope, that's not angry enough. What's going to work?_

Lea caught sight of her thinking. "It doesn't have to be too angering, just enough to get your fire started. It's gotta at least tick you off."

Maria came upon a memory just as he said his: the first time she had seen the movie, which had its events playing out for them now, a specific point in the film coming to mind. Walking over to her own spot near the wall, she got into a Lucario-like stance and created an orb of fire about half as big as a basketball, throwing it with a roar at the wall, watching as the fire attack exploded and spread out over a section of the wall, then vanished.

Lea and Riku looked at Maria in surprise, who shrugged.

"Well, now that I've got access my fire, what's next?" she asked.

"Now we start working on your techniques and developing more control over it," Lea replied. "What you just used there could be some sort of Fire Orb, I guess."

"That name could work...but I think that the name _Fire_ _Sphere_ might be better," Maria remarked.

Lea shrugged. "It's your move. Let's see if we can get you to do another one. Try something like this." Fire crawled up from his hands to his elbows, then became giant claws as Lea slashed a rock, which somewhat melted, leaving tracks behind where the fire had struck.

Maria's eyes widened, then narrowed her eyes in concentration as she tried to summon the fire again, fists clenched. The fire came to her easier than she had expected, going from her hands all the way up to her shoulders. Then she punched the rock Lea had slashed, breaking it, much to her surprise.

"Whoa," Maria breathed as the fires died. "Never thought I could do _that_. I'm not even that strong at home." She looked over at Lea. "That one's definitely a Fire Punch."

Lea shrugged. "If you say so, kid, but punches aren't going to work out for very long in a fight. Watch." He brought up the claws from before and flung them at the rock wall, where they seemed to vibrate from the impact before dissipating.

"I suppose that isn't the only long range attack you can use," Riku remarked.

"You mean, like my Fire Sphere?" Maria ventured. A small ball of fire appeared in her left hand with only a thought, and she started to throw it up and down like it were a baseball. "Or that wave of fire Lea released as an example?"

"Both of those seem to need to be charged up a little first," Riku pointed out. "The 'Fire Punch,' as you called it, is quick and easy to use."

Maria nodded. "Yeah, I suppose."

She glanced back at the few tents behind them as Wilhelmina stated to Milo, "I sleep in the nude."

Sweet instantly started handing out eye covers to everyone. "You need this. She sleepwalks." He walked over to Riku, Lea, and Maria, handing them some eye covers, as well. "You should get some sleep. You're going to need it."

Riku nodded. "Right. Who knows what we're going to run into tomorrow?"

"Exactly," Sweet confirmed. "See you in the morning, you three."

"The same to you," Maria replied. She walked over to three tents that had been erected earlier by them and crawled into hers, settling to sleep on the dull colored mat.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Maria awoke when she heard someone - or something - moving by her tent. The teen took off the eye cover and moved forward on her belly, looking around for the cause. In the glow of the yellow rock above the camp, she caught sight of the figure: a person with a giant tiki mask painted in blues and purples was moving around the camp, looking like it was trying to avoid being seen. Maria then caught sight of Milo, who was walking over to an area directly below the natural nightlight.

Maria put two and two together quickly and grabbed the cloth that made up her tent and started to roll it up as quietly as she could. That didn't stop Lea and Riku from waking up, however - or the tiki-mask from disappearing from sight.

"What are you doing?" Lea demanded in a harsh whisper.

Maria motioned to the yellow rock. "We're about to be in for a rather nasty surprise," she explained. "Watch out for fireflies."

Riku frowned. "Fireflies?" he repeated. "Why?"

Milo let out a yell of horror as small, yellow orbs came out of the rock, which promptly went out. The orbs then started to set fire to everything.

"That's why," Maria replied as she finished rolling up her tent. Leaving the frame behind, she used the rope that had kept it up and tied the cloth together so that it wouldn't come undone. Throwing the excess rope over her shoulder, she adjusted the tent so that it looked like a duffel bag. "Come on! The end of our journey is close."

The group ran for their truck as those who could escape the fireflies made for their own respective vehicles. As they ran, Lea attempted to control the fire with his abilities, but it only got worse.

"Great!" he muttered. "Looks like the camp is lost."

"We still have the other equipment we need," Riku pointed out. "We can sleep in the vehicles of we have to."

As the vehicles started to roll over a man-made bridge on the other side of the cavern, Mole's drill first, Maria started to count down.

"Five...four...three...two...one," Maria stated as the bridge suddenly broke behind them. Mole's drill suddenly started to roll backwards because of the slant.

Lea looked a little panicked. "There's no way we'll be able to get all the way across!" he warned.

"That's exactly why we have to back up," Maria stated calmly. "You'd better do it quickly, too, unless you want to get crushed."

Lea started to back up the truck, watching over his shoulder as the other trucks did the same, trying to avoid being crushed by the giant drill thing at the front of the caravan. In the end, it was inevitable, as the drill practically crushed almost everything, except for the few vehicles who only managed to just barely avoid it. It didn't take very long for the whole caravan to fall into the darkness of the ravine below.

"All those alive, sound off," Rourke called, striking a match. There was a collection of groans from those who actually were still living.

As the match went out, Lea created small orbs of fire, spreading them out so that everyone could see properly as they looked around for lanterns to use as temporary light. Maria managed to make a couple, as well, but they released spurts of flame and seemed more unstable the more of them she made.

"Damage report?" Rourke asked, looking around at the vehicle carnage.

"We can salvage a few trucks, but the rest are just scrap," Audrey reported. "We can use them to repair the other cars, though."

Helga and Mole looked around at the cave the group was now in. "How high do you think this thing goes?" the woman asked.

Vinny pulled out a flare, lit it, and sent it up. The mini firework hit the ceiling high above them - perhaps almost (or over) a thousand feet up - and went out.

Mole tasted the dirt on the floor. After muttering some scientific words, he exclaimed, "We are in a dormant volcano!"

"Then that may be our ticket out of these caves," Riku noted.

Maria looked around at those who were present, taking note of the key expedition members and doing an attendance count in her head. Then she frowned. "Where's Milo?" she asked, a memory popping up in her mind of what had happened to the scholar. "Anybody see Milo anywhere?"

The expedition members started to look around, expecting to see the geek pop up, that book of his in hand. When he didn't show up, Mole started to sniff around in the dirt, got a whiff of something, then jumped into his drill and started it up, driving off and digging a huge hole through the bridge's remains and into the wall of the lava tube. Everyone else got into what vehicles worked and followed.

"Where do you think he's going?" Lea asked as they rode.

"I think he may have picked up Milo's scent or something," Maria muttered. "If I recall correctly, we should come to a new chamber shortly."

Ahead of them, the drill broke through a wall of rock, emerging...

...in a place that looked like a tropical paradise.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Uh, pardon the mess, people," B.E.N. said as Liz, Jim, Sora, Kairi, Doppler, and Amelia came into his home. "You'd think that in a hundred years you'd tend to dust things more often...but when you're batching it, you tend to, uh, let things go." The robot caught sight of a look that passed between the captain and the astrologist as Doppler placed Amelia gently on the ground. "Aw, isn't that so sweet?" He grinned at Liz. "I find old-fashioned romance so touching, don't you?"

Before Liz could answer, B.E.N. had turned around and reappeared with some rather unusual beverages, one of which was blowing bubbles.

"Drinks for the happy couple?" the robot inquired.

Doppler and Amelia looked a little surprised, then both said at once, "No." The two then looked at each other and blushed.

"Thank you, but we don't drink," Amelia started.

"And we're not a couple," Doppler finished.

_Suuure you aren't_, Liz thought.

Doppler looked at the wall, spotting something that caused immediate interest. "Look at these markings," he said, pointing to the wall. "They look like the ones on the map. I suspect that these are the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture."

Amelia started to try and get up. "Jim, Liz, stop anyone who tries to approach." She let out a groan as she held onto her side.

"Yes, yes, now listen to me," Doppler said as he gently forced her back. "Stop giving orders and lie still for a milliseconds."

Amelia looked impressed. "Very forceful, Doctor. Go on, say something else."

"Hey!" B.E.N. suddenly shouted. "There's some of your buddies! Hey, fellas! We're over here!"

Laser gunfire instantly came in his direction; the robot successfully dodged them before falling backward as someone called, "Stop wasting your fire!"

Liz's eyes narrowed. "Silver," she muttered.

"Hello up there!" the cyborg pirate called. "Jimbo, if it's all right with your captain, I'd like a short word with ya. No tricks, just a little palaver."

"He's probably come to ask for the map," Sora noted.

"Pestilential..." Amelia managed to get out before grabbing her side again.

"But that means he thinks we still have it," Kairi stated.

Jim and Liz exchanged glances, then jumped out the "front door" that B.E.N. had been standing in earlier. Morph followed them.

As they neared the leader of the rebel pirates, Morph flew over to his old companion happily.

"Ah, Morphy!" Silver exclaimed. "I was wondering where you'd gotten off to." He flinched as his false leg suddenly collapsed. Liz recalled - and saw - the cane his hand had become in order to cope with the crippled machinery.

Silver legit a low groan. "Oh, this leg's been downright snarky ever since that game attack in the galley." He chuckled nervously. When neither Jim nor Liz answered, he sighed and said, "Look, whatever you heard back there, at least the part concerning you...I didn't mean a word of it. Had the bloodthirsty lot found out I'd gone soft, they'd have gutted us both."

Liz knew he was telling the truth, but Jim was something else. He kept his face like a mask, as did Liz, so that Silver couldn't tell whether they believed him or not.

"Look, of we all play our cards right, we could walk out of here as rich as kings."

"Yeah?" Liz ventured.

Silver chuckled. "You give me that map and...an even portion of the treasure is yours."

Jim let out a laugh. "Boy, you are really something. All that talk about greatness, the light coming off my sails... What a joke."

Silver looked a little worried. "Now, see here, Jimbo -"

"I mean you taught me one thing," Jim continued, "stick to it. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to make sure you never see one dabloon of my treasure!"

"That treasure is owed me, by thunder!" Silver roared.

"Well, just try finding it without my map, by thunder!" Jim retorted.

The cyborg pirate glared at Jim. "Oh, you still don't know how to pick your fights, do you, boy? Now, mark me. Either I get that map by dawn tomorrow, or I'll use the ship's cannons to blast ye all to kingdom come!" He turned around and started to head back to the other pirates. "Morph, hop to it! Now!"

Morph looked from Silver to Jim, a little anxious concerning his choice. When he stayed by Jim, Silver left in a huff.

**Line Break. ignore me and move on.**

"Gentlemen," Amelia murmured, "we must stay together and..." She let out a groan as another wave of pain coursed through her.

"And what?" Doppler demanded. "We must stay together and what?"

Amelia looked up at him with a rather dreamy look, something that was not expected on the face of a war-battered ship captain. "Doctor, you have beautiful eyes."

Doppler looked at Jim, Liz, Sora, Kairi, and B.E.N. in shock. "She's lost her mind!" he exclaimed.

"Well, you've gotta help her," Sora pointed out.

"Dang it, Sora, I'm an astronomer, not a doctor!" the dog replied. "At least, I am a doctor, but not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate, which is not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there, helpless."

"It's okay, Doc," Jim replied carelessly.

"Yeah, it's all right," Kairi added.

"Don't worry, Doc!" B.E.N. exclaimed. "Jimmy knows exactly how to get out of this. It's just that Jimmy has this knowledge of things. So, Jim, what's the plan?"

"Without the map, we're dead," Jim stated.

"And if we try to leave, we're dead," Liz added as she motioned to the front door.

"And if we stay -" Jim started.

"We're dead!" Morph exclaimed. "We're dead we're dead we're dead!"

B.E.N. looked a little nervous. "Well, I think that Jimmy needs some quiet time." The robot chuckled nervously. "I think I'll just slip out the back door."

"Back door?" Sora repeated.

"Oh, yeah," B.E.N. replied as he rolled something and created an opening in the back of his "house." "I get this delightful breeze through here, which I think is important, because ventilation among friends -"

"What is all this stuff?" Kairi asked as she peers down the hole.

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that go through this entire planet?" B.E.N. guessed. "No clue!"

"Doc, I think we have our way out of here," Liz stated with a grin.

Doppler looked a little worried. "No, don't! The Captain told us to stay together!"

"And we will," Liz replied. "I'll go with Jim and Sora, and Kairi can stay here and keep an eye on you guys."

"We'll be back!" Jim called as he jumped into the opening.

"Cannonball!" B.E.N. called as the rest jumped in after him.

Doppler sighed. "Woof."


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Maria looked out over the cliff as she got out of the vehicle, scanning the area of land shrouded in mist beyond the edge of the cliff. Everyone else was just staring, trying to comprehend that there was actually something akin to sunlight a few hundred feet below the surface of the ocean floor.

Maria exchanged glances with Riku and Lea, who were trying to see what was behind the mist.

"Don't stress your eyes, guys," she told them quietly. "You'll get to see what that is soon enough."

Milo suddenly let out a yell of surprise. Maria, Riku, and Lea turned their heads to see the figure Maria had caught sight of last night, wandering through the camp.

The figure removed the tiki mask as more figures dropped down onto the cliff, as well. Maria didn't know what surprised the crew more - that the figure was human, or that the figure was a woman in a dress made of purple and blue fabrics - an actual dress.

"Who?" Lea asked, looking at the woman.

Maria smirked. "You'll see." She recalled the tongue twister of a name the woman had and couldn't help it as her grin got wider.

The woman glared at the group and spoke in a rapidly in a language that sounded like complete gibberish. Milo stumbled as he replied, looking in the _Journal_ as he spoke.

The woman frowned, then repeated his words. Milo then replied...but in a different language. Which the woman also seemed to understand. When he moved to French, and the woman understood, Mole became ecstatic.

"She speaks my language!" the little man exclaimed. He ran over to the woman, who leaned down to hear what he had to say. Mole then whispered something in her ear, which caused the woman to slap the Frenchman across his face, causing Sweet and the others to chuckle.

Slowly, hesitantly, the other tiki-warriors removed their masks and began to greet the other crew members in various languages.

Rourke looked around in confusion as Milo started to go through the _Journal_ hastily.

"Milo, what's going on?" Rourke asked the resident geek.

"It seems like Atlantean is a base language for all other existing languages," Milo replied, not looking up from his reading material.

"Meaning, they should be able to speak English, right?" Lea asked.

_Oh, boy,_ Maria thought.

"We are but humble travelers," Rourke told the woman, his voice practically dripping with false sincerity.

"Welcome to Atlantis," the woman announced in perfect English, motioning to the wall of mist. Almost like magic, the mist faded away, revealing a plateau, on which was the city, surrounded by water, which flowed off the plateau, with small isles of rock jutting out at perfect intervals.

Maria's eyes sparkled as she looked out at the city. "Wow..." Sure, she had seen the movie plenty of times, but she had never been able to see it _in_ _person_ - as that made all the difference.

"Come!" the woman added, taking Milo's wrist. She then ran along a path near the edge of the cliff to a wooden bridge that spanned the chasm. The rest of the crew followed, either on foot or in whatever vehicles they could get around Mole's drill. Maria, however, caught sight of Rourke directing a few of them to stay behind. Specifically, the ones wearing the gas masks.

Maria's eyes narrowed. Clearly, Rourke was already thinking ahead about getting the city's treasure out of this underground paradise - whatever he thought the treasure was. _You have no idea what you're getting into, Rourke._

As they walked across the wooden bridge, Lea asked Maria, "So, what's gonna happen in there?"

"The woman is taking us to the head head honcho of the Atlanteans, or, more specifically, the king," Maria replied quietly. "He's got a thing against outsiders like us. Rourke and Milo should take care of talking to him, so I suggest that we stay back." She looked at Lea and Riku. "From what I know, the king will say that we can only stay for one night, to relax and replenish what we need, then leave the next day. Since the three of us are here, that might change things up a little."

Riku nodded in understanding. "All right."

After they had crossed the bridge, the group looked around at the city's architecture, not leaving the caravan of trucks to explore deeper in.

"How long did these guys last down here?" Lea asked, looking around.

"Thousands of years," Maria replied calmly.

Riku frowned. "How is it that they can survive down here? Don't they need sunlight to make all of this grow?"

Maria shook her head. "It isn't quite that simple." She lowered her voice as she continued, "You see, their tech is so advanced, they don't really _need_ sunlight to survive."

The two boys looked at each other for a moment.

"I can believe that," Lea finally admitted. "I mean, we've probably seen crazier stuff than this."

It wasn't long before they had reached a pair of tall gates, guarded by muscular Atlantean males with spears, who let only a small group past, which included Maria, Lea, Riku, Rourke, Helga, Audrey, Mole, Sweet, Vinny, and Milo. The rest remained outside of the gates.

Past the gates was a room open to the "sky" above them, which Maria knew was actually just a cave ceiling. The floor was practically a pool, except for the path of stone that only went so far forward, stopping almost in the center of the chamber. The room itself was almost like a place that had been lying in ruins for centuries, with vines growing all over everything, including the statues behind a fancy-looking lean-to, in which an old man reclined.

The man, who was obviously the king, looked old enough to be Yen Sid's grandfather. He wore a blue and purple robe, much like the other Atlanteans, only this was much more ornate. Also, his face and hands were covered in sky blue tattoo markings, most likely signifying his age and "rank," if such a thing existed in this place. What was probably the oddest thing about him, however, were his eyes. If Maria hadn't thought otherwise, she could have sworn that he was blind, because his eyes were completely white.

The man spoke to the young woman who had brought them in, his rasping voice speaking slower than the other Atlanteans had. The woman retaliated quickly. Maria couldn't quite remember what they were saying to each other specifically, but she knew that the king wanted them out of his throne room and as far away from Atlantis as possible. His daughter, however (for that is who the woman was), had an unquenchable curiosity about the outside world and wanted to know what it was like.

Maria looked over at Milo, who was reading the _Journal_ and translating what the man was saying. Rourke, however, was beginning to get annoyed with the whole "language barrier" thing. He stepped forward causing Milo to look up.

"Uhh, I don't think that's -" he started.

"I've got this," Rourke stated, looking back at him. He looked back at the king and started his whole "humble travelers" speech, talking about they had arrived as simple explorers.

The king, however, wasn't interested. He wanted everyone out as soon as possible. This caused Maria to wonder if he could sense if there was something up with any of the explorers who had come into his kingdom. Did the city's power source give the king any insight?

"But if you send us back now, we'll be unprepared," Rourke pointed out. "At least let us replenish our supplies and send us on our way. It'll only take us a couple of days."

"One night," the king stated flatly. "And then you're all gone and out of Atlantis."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Milo said respectively, bowing as he backed up. The group then retreated from the throne room - without the princess.

As the gates closed behind them, Rourke looked around at the crew. "O.K., we need someone to figure out what's going on around here and talk to the old man."

"I'll do it!" Mole exclaimed, jumping up in the air, waving his arms.

"Someone who's good with the natives," Helga continued.

"I volunteer!"

"Someone who speaks the language," Maria added.

Mole yelled out something in French.

"Glad you volunteered, Milo," Rourke stated, slapping him on the back.

Milo looked up from the _Journal_, confused. "Huh? Me?"

Lea nodded. "Yup. You're the only one of us who can even partially understand them."

Milo stared at them all in astonishment, while Mole glared at him. "You can't be serious. Me? Talk to the king? Didn't you see the way he was looking at us? He'd rather see me turned into a pile of ash rather than come to him and ask about what's going on in his head. He clearly doesn't like us."

Maria frowned, nodding slightly. Milo _did_ have a point. However, there was another way to get the answers that would allow the events of the movie to move along. "What about the woman who guided us off the cliff?" the teen suggested. "She seems friendly enough."

"She stayed back in the throne room, right?" Lea asked.

Maria nodded.

Milo gave the two an annoyed look, then sighed. "All right, I'll go." He turned and walked off for a nearby pillar, where he started pacing, still holding the book.

Rourke nodded to the rest of the group. "The rest of you, spread out. Mingle with the locals, try to get some information yourselves." With that, he walked off into Atlantis. The others followed not long after, leaving Maria, Lea, and Riku standing by themselves not far from the gate.

"So, who's up for a little exploring?" Maria asked, motioning to the city.

Lea shrugged. "Fine by me. But can't we do it after Milo's done with her? I get the feeling that whoever sent those Heartless to the Whitmore Mansion stowed away on the caravan and came here, and he's still after Milo's book."

Maria frowned. "Yeah, you're right. What do you suggest? That we follow Milo around like stalkers?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it _that_ way, but if you say so."

"It shouldn't be all of us at once," Riku remarked thoughtfully. "Maybe one at a time, in watches." He looked at Maria. "You know where they're going to be going, right?"

Maria thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. After the woman takes off with him, they're going to climb up one of the statues that's located around the city. After that, they're going to wander around the city for a while, then go to I guess what you might call a host family and eat dinner. After that, Kida - for that's her name - is going to start showing him things about Atlantis itself." She looked over at the pillar, where Milo was still pacing. "Atlantis is, like it or not, a big place. If we're going to take turns watching them, we're going to have to stalk each other."

Milo suddenly let out a short yell of surprise, only for it to get muffled. The three turned, catching sight of the woman standing behind Milo, a hand over his mouth. She caught sight of them and motioned them over.

"I have questions about the outside world, and you are going to answer them," she told the group as she released Milo.

Milo was about to protest, but then he nodded. "O.K."

"Good." The Atlantean then grabbed him and took off, Maria, Lea, and Riku running after him, disappearing into the forest around the "palace."

"We have to get away from there, so that Father doesn't hear what we're going to talk about," she explained as they ran.

"What are we going to talk about?" Maria inquired.

"Your world. What it's like up there."

"And, I'm kind of wondering what it's like down _here_," Milo pointed out. "Like, how do you survive down here?"

The Atlantean motioned to the sky blue crystal bouncing on her chest as they ran. "The Crystal protects and nurtures us. What protects and nurtures you?"

"Well, the sun nurtures us in a roundabout way," Maria replied. "It helps the plants grow, which is eaten by animals, which are eaten by other animals. We eat both the plants and the animals."

"Is this...Sun a crystal?"

Milo shook his head as he started to pant. "No. It's a giant ball of fire a few hundred million miles above the surface." His grip tightened on his book. "Where are we stopping?"

The Atlantean stopped in a clearing in the forest. "Here," she stated.

Milo leaned forward and gripped his knees, panting. "All right, then. So, I was thinking that we'd ask a question and then you'd ask a question. Like, how is it that an entire civilization managed to end up down here when you used to be up there?"

The woman frowned, then moved over to a nearby tree, placing a hand on it as she replied, "I remember the sky darkening as water flooded into our city, like something had been blotted out." Kida sent a hand through her white hair, considering the past and her words carefully. "The Crystal saved us from a horrible fate, but so many of my people - my culture - were sacrificed in the process." She looked back at the four from the world above. "I want to restore my dying culture, and you will help me."

Milo frowned. "Why is your culture dying?" he asked. "Surely your people aren't dying out."

"It's not that," the Atlantean replied. "It's my father."

"The king?" Riku recalled.

The woman nodded. "Yes. He believes that it is better for us to be ignorant."

Milo's eyes widened. "Does that mean that you can't read?" He opened the _Journal_ and let the princess look at it.

"It is all scribbles to me," the woman admitted.

Maria shook her head. "Something tells me your dad made a choice that he regretted."

Lea frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, we're a few hundred miles or so underground, so there's a good place to start. Plus, if they can't read, that means they can't move technology forward, meaning they can't preserve their culture, and the Atlanteans are just going to keep going backwards until they're forced to go forwards again by the need to survive in this place," Maria stated.

The Atlantean woman gave Maria an odd look, then slowly nodded. "What you say is true. From what I remember of my early childhood, there was much more of this...going forward during the time before the city was taken under the sea."

"Okay..." Lea said hesitantly. "So, you're, what, over five hundred years old?"

"Is that a problem?" the woman inquired.

"No! It's just... You look young for your age."

Maria smirked, doing her best to hold back a burst of laughter. "Is there anywhere you want us to start at?"

The Atlantean nodded, moving over to an object covered in a tarp-like material. "I want you to figure out how to use this." She flung the tarp off, revealing a fish made out of some sort of metallic material, and with some sort of built in saddle.

Milo walked over to it. "It looks like some sort of transport," he murmured, looking it over.

The woman handed him her crystal. "You're going to need this to start it," she told him, pointing to the square-shaped hole on the back of the fish.

Milo nodded and looked at the back carefully. "It says to put the crystal in and make a half turn to the right while holding your hand here." He touched an area surrounded by lines of runes.

"Yes, yes, I've done all that," Kida stated impatiently.

"But did you make a quarter turn to the left?"

The Atlantean looked at him in surprise, then frowned.

Milo placed the crystal in the slot and, with his hand on the pad, made a half turn to the right and a quarter turn to the left. Instantly, the fish thing came to life, lifting up off the ground.

The woman was excited at the sight, grinning at Milo. Embarrassed, Milo leaned against the fish, touching its pad in a curtain spot. Much to everyone's surprise, the fish shot forward into a nearby tree.

Maria smirked. "Looks like that touchpad thing controls the fish," she remarked.

The Atlantean walked over to the fish and retrieved her crystal. "Indeed. Not only can the Crystal sustain us, but it can power these...things."

Milo frowned slightly. "Is there anyplace from which we can view the city?"

The woman frowned for a moment, then her face lit up. "Come with me." She grabbed Milo's arm and ran off with him, Lea, Riku, and Maria not far behind.

"Where are we going?" Lea asked Maria.

"One of the few placed you can actually climb and still remain in the city limits," Maria replied with a grin. "Are you up for scaling a vine-ridden statue?"


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Liz made a face at the horrendous snoring of one of the pirates. "You'd think they'd have stuck it to him at this point," she muttered, looking over at Sora.

The Keyblade user nodded in agreement. "Or, at least, put a cork in him."

B.E.N. looked at Jim. "So, what's the plan?" he asked a little louder than he should have.

"Shh, B.E.N., be quiet," Jim hissed in return. When the robot had covered his mouth with his rusting hands, the boy whispered, "O.K., here it is. We sneak back to the _Legacy_, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map."

"That's a good plan," B.E.N. said through his fingers.

Liz nodded in agreement. "Only thing is, how are we going to get up there?"

"On that," Jim replied, pointing to the skiff anchored on the planet's floor.

The group quickly snuck around the pirates, careful not to step on the strange, flatulent slug, and got into the skiff, which Jim skillfully piloted up to the ship.

Morph, who had tagged along for the ride, let out a shudder as they approached the deck of the ship.

"Relax," Sora told the pink blob. "All the pirates are down there. The ship's deserted."

_So you think_, Liz thought grimly as she recalled the events of the movie.

The group quickly moved into the lower decks of the ship, Jim leading the way into a corridor near the engine.

"You wait here," Jim told B.E.N. "I'll go get the map."

The rusting robot saluted. "Rodger! I'll go neutralize the laser cannons sir!" He promptly skipped off, humming, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

"B.E.N!" Sora called after him. "B.E.N.!" He looked at Liz and Jim. "I've got a bad feeling about that robot."

Jim nodded. "So do I, but I've got to go after the map."

Sora nodded in agreement. "I'll keep an eye on the robot; you take Liz and look for the map. I think there are still some Heartless on board, meaning that they'll start looking for you the instant you're unprotected."

Jim frowned, not exactly liking the idea of putting his life in the hands of a girl. Liz took noticed this.

"Relax, Jim," Liz stated. "We got this. Let's just get the map and get off the ship before the pirates notice."

Jim gave her an odd look, then nodded. "All right. Let's go."

Sora nodded, then ran off in the direction B.E.N. had gone, and Jim and Liz made their way to the dock that Morph had left the map at. A few minutes later, an alarm went off.

"Bad B.E.N., bad!" Liz muttered under her breath. "That robot's going to get us all killed!"

"Cabin boy."

Jim looked up and let out a yell of surprise, causing Liz to quickly glance up, then push Jim and herself out of the way as Scroop slammed down onto the metal walkway, followed by a small group of Heartless.

Liz held her sword out in front of her, watching the alien pirate cautiously. "Jim, go! I'll take care of this guy!" She started to summon a spell, but was stopped when the ship suddenly moved, causing all three of them to be slammed into a nearby wall.

Liz gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Really, B.E.N.?" She and Jim moved away quickly from Scroop and started to run down the walkway towards the dock, the pirate following behind on his spider-like legs, the boat creaking as they did so.

"This way!" Jim called out, pulling Liz down another corridor. It wasn't long before they'd reached the docking bay Morph had left the map in. Which was also crowded with Heartless.

Liz let out a growl, readying her sword, which was glowing a bright blue. "Here goes nothing." She made a sweeping motion, releasing magic with a high potency, destroying every single one of the Heartless in sight. The teen let out a sigh. "Good. Let's get that map and get out of here before that robot does something else that's just as foolish."

"Raar!" Scroop roared as he leapt at the two from behind. Liz turned swiftly and slashed at the wooden beam above him, then sent a blast of magic up through the ceiling creating a hole to the top deck.

"Hurry!" Liz barked at Jim. The two of them scrambled up the fallen beam and through the hole. As soon as they'd managed to get clear of the beam, Scroop broke free and climbed up after them.

"Raar!" Scroop repeated as he ran after the two children. As soon as the exclamation had left his mouth, the trio suddenly began to float away from the deck.

Jim let out a growl. "B.E.N..." He and Liz tried to get a hold of something to anchor them, and the closest thing was the main mast, near the pirate flag that still waved at the top.

"Heh heh heh," Scroop said, floating alongside them. "Do say hello to Mr. Arrow for me."

Jim's gaze moved from Scroop to the flag as he quickly devised a plan.

"Why don't you tell him yourself!" he yelled back, pushing Scroop into the pirate flag. Thanks to the alien pirate's weight and momentum, the ropes holding the flag in place snapped, and Scroop was hurled into space screaming curses in Jim's general direction.

Liz grinned at Jim and gave him a thumbs-up, while mentally, she thought, _5...4...3...2...1..._ Just as she was about to hit zero, the ship's gravity reactivated, causing the two teens' descent to increase in speed. Liz saved them both from a nasty fall by improvising and creating a spell using Air magic.

Morph, Sora, and B.E.N. ran up to the two, the last of the three covered in pieces of wire.

"Laser cannons disconnected, Captain Jimmy, sir!" the robot exclaimed as he saluted.

Sora smirked. "It wasn't so tough."


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Maria let out a sigh as she settled into her makeshift hammock, which was made out of her rescued tent and rope she had carried with her ever since the fire in the cave. Exploring Atlantis had taken a lot out of her, and the food she had eaten at dinner was making her sleepy from a full stomach. A nap hadn't been too far from her mind, anyway.

As Maria was making herself comfortable, Milo and Kida were conversing by a body of water, not unlike a small swimming pool. Lea and Riku were off elsewhere, most likely taking a closer look at the city, which most likely involved a possible hunt for Heartless - if any had been brought with them by accident. The teen smiled at the memory of the group climbing the statue to get the aerial view of the city, which involved the guessing game with the Atlantean princess' name. Oddly enough, Maria had been the only one to pronounce Kida's full name correctly - Kidagakash. But it was so much of a mouthful that Maria, like the others, simply called her Kida.

"It's hard to believe that these little guys can be so destructive," Milo remarked. Maria knew without looking over that he was referring to the fireflies, which were now flying around the pool, their soft glow giving the area a lighting akin to twilight. The teen mentally agreed with him, knowing full well that these creatures could just as easily burn you to death as supply the light the Atlanteans needed in their everyday lives.

The teen closed her eyes and let out a sigh, sinking deeper into the makeshift hammock. About a minute later, a loud noise akin to a raspberry echoed around the area, causing Maria to grin from ear to ear as Kida giggled. A moment later, splashing resounded. Maria opened one eye to see that Milo and the Atlantean princess had disappeared, the water in the pool rippling in circular patterns - the only sign that the two had even been there.

Maria smiled lazily as she closed her eyes and fell into slumber. _Now this is what I call a vacation._

Almost instantly - or at least, it felt as such - Maria was pushed out of the hammock and onto the ground. The teen was up on her feet just as quickly, her glasses askew and bent from her fall, an annoyed and rather grumpy look on her face.

"There are better ways to wake someone up," she hissed as she summoned her staff, despite the fact that there was a gun pointed in her face. The teen wasn't feeling too nice, and her knowledge of the future only bolstered her confidence. "Do that again and you'll pay for it, Rourke." _Like you'll ever be able to do anything after tonight's events, anyway._

The mentioned man let out a laugh. "And how are you going to make me pay, little lady? I case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered." He motioned to the crew members who had them surrounded, their guns pointed at her. "Now, be a good girl and tell me where your friends are."

"Is it my job to keep tabs on my friends?" Maria demanded. "We split after dinner; I came here with a nap in mind." She eyed the hammock meaningfully, then sent Rourke another glare.

"Not the answer I was looking for," Rourke growled. He brought the gun closer to her head. "We already found the two boys. Now, where are the other two?"

Maria glared at him, knowing full well that this was, in a way, the path this world was meant to take. "Kida and Milo went for a swim." She pointed to the pool as her staff disappeared, then crossed her arms over her chest. "Happy?"

"Very." Rourke made a motion with his gun, and the crew split up around the pool as a pair of men with gas masks approached, their guns to the backs of Riku and Lea, who did not have their Keyblades out. "Be glad, boys. We're almost back together."

Lea snorted with disgust. "Yeah, sure. I'm _certain_ the king's going to be _very_ happy about this." The boy's voice was heavy on the sarcasm.

Nearby, in the pool, there was a resounding splashing noise as Kida and Milo resurfaced. Guns were cocked and pointed at them as they looked around in confusion and surprise.

Milo let out a gasp upon seeing the crew members holding guns in his general direction, all of them with determined looks of hatred on their faces. Kida, scared out of her wits, got up and ran for the exit, only to be taken down by a pair of men wearing gas masks.

"Don't hurt her!" Milo exclaimed in a panic.

"Don't worry," Rourke replied calmly. "The princess is our ticket to that crystal of theirs." He motioned to the men, who forced Kida to her feet.

Milo's eyes widened. "What?"

Rourke reached into a chest pocket and removed a piece of paper covered in Atlantean writing. On it was a picture of a shining sphere, surrounded by chunks of rock of different sizes. Maria recognized it instantly and recalled that Milo had complained to Kida during their tour that one of the pages from the _Journal_ was missing. It made her wonder how Rourke had managed to get his hands on it in the first place...

Milo frowned upon seeing the paper. "So that's where the missing page went," he muttered.

Rourke shrugged carelessly. "He never really noticed any sort of difference in the book after I took it out." He waved the paper in front of Milo's nose. "Now, translate it, before I send a bullet through your girl's head." He made a motion to one of the men who was holding onto Kida, who instantly took a shotgun and placed it next to her left temple, cocked and ready to fire.

Kida gave Milo and the others a panicked look, fear clearly in her eyes. Maria couldn't help but give her a sympathetic look, transforming into a grim look, then a glare in Rourke's direction, which the renegade commander ignored.

"So, are you going to or not?" Rourke asked, eyeing Milo calmly. "There could be untold riches awaiting you."

Milo gave Rourke a glare. "This thing is their life source," he growled. "Take it away, and they die."

Rourke, instead of dropping the whole subject of going after the crystal, became extremely interested. "Well, that could easily double the price."

"I'd make it triple," Helga responded, a sly smile appearing on her face.

Maria's glare began to increase in strength. "You guys are just mercenaries. You'd been bribed long before Whitmore found you, weren't you?"

"No, we weren't," Rourke responded calmly. "We just want something out of all of this. Milo wanted something too, didn't you, boy?"

"I was expecting to find a few clay pots or something like that down here," Milo admitted, "but now that I see there's an actual culture, I can't just take away their lifesource from them." Straightening up and puffing his chest out, he added, "And you can't make me."

Lea let out a cough that sounded like "She's dead."

Rourke, whether or not he had heard this, looked over in the direction of the Atlantean princess. "Does that mean you don't care for the princess anymore?"

Milo's eyes widened as he realized his mistake in his last statement. "No, no, that doesn't mean that."

"Then make your choice, son," Rourke growled. "Either the both of you live, or she dies."

Maria looked over at Riku and Lea, who were keeping their emotions hidden while she was biting her lower lip, a nervous look clear on her face. Like it or not, the teen felt like she needed to act, and act now. Then again, there was still the matter of keeping the world going on the right track...

"All right," Milo sighed, jolting Maria out of her thoughts. He held out his hand, and Rourke gave the page to him, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

"You're doing the right thing," Rourke stated.

Maria gave Rourke a dark look. _Yeah; sure. And you're going to actually get away with this._ She considered making her staff reappear and whack the villain on the back of his head, but then she caught sight of a dark form off to one side of the pool. Making a motion to catch the Keyblade users' attention, she pointed over to where the dark form was. _Heartless._ She mouthed.

Riku and Lea looked at each other, then leapt over the pool and instantly attacked the Heartless, only to become surrounded by more.

The group present turned their gaze to look at what was going on, only for their eyes to widen in shock at what was going on.

Kida, upon seeing the creatures, once again tried to get out of her captors' grip, yelling something in Atlantean. Milo, upon seeing this, stopped trying to translate the page and tried to comfort her instead.

Maria's gaze went from the princess to the crowd of Heartless, her eyes narrowing. In an instant, her staff materialized, and she dashed around the pool and into the swarm of Heartless herself, figuring that Lea and Riku could use the help.

"What are those things?" one of the masked crew members demanded.

"You mean you haven't been paying attention to _anything _this whole trip?!" Maria demanded, sending out a web of electricity from her staff. "They're Heartless, you idiot! They're here because someone's got a _ton_ of darkness in their heart, and they're here to answer its call. And we can't let that happen!"

Everyone turned to look at Rourke, who gave them all looks of shock in return.

"It's certainly not me," he remarked.

Maria let out a growl, multiple things going through her head that _clearly_ pointed to the renegade commander indirectly lying, because he simply wasn't aware. "You'd better hope that it isn't." She lifted her staff and slammed it against the ground, sending out a wave of ice, completely freezing the Heartless, miraculously avoiding Lea and Riku. "You guys really have to find that Keyhole," she added under her breath.

"Gee, ya think?" Lea responded sarcastically. He smashed a Heartless out of frustration, then went ahead and destroyed the rest of them. "And since when were you able to _do_ that? Kid, you've got a lot more to you than meets the eye."

The words sent a shiver up Maria's spine, but she figured it was an after-effect of the magic usage. "I'm still learning. That attack was definitely instinctive."

"Well, do it more often," Lea replied.

"It says that the way to the Crystal is through the king's heart," Milo finally stated, defeated.

Rourke grinned evilly. "All right. Let's go talk to the king, then." He grabbed Milo by the shoulders and marched him off in the direction of the throne room, the others following.

A pair of the gas-masked men grabbed Maria and Riku by the shoulders, but Maria shook them off.

"I can walk myself," she snarled, walking away from him and after the rest of the group. Riku and Lea followed, keeping in stride with the teen.

"Milo mentioned the king's heart," Riku muttered. "Does that mean -"

"The king's Heart doesn't get involved in this," Maria murmured in response. "I remember that it had actually said that it was 'in the _eye_ of the king.' The entrance to the Crystal's chamber is in the throne room, and the king is usually looking right at it."

Lea frowned. "Then us getting involved probably changed it," he noted.

Maria nodded. "I think so, too. We're going to have to be careful, if and when things continue to veer off from what I know already."

The group soon reached the throne room's doors, which Rourke threw open after his men had their guns pointed at the guards who were stationed there. Maria and the boys quickly made their weapons disappear so that no one would get any wrong ideas about where they stood on the matter of the sudden intrusion.

"What is the meaning this?!" the king demanded from his seat as the guards in the throne room got ready to fight.

"Tell your guards to stand down," Rourke ordered, motioning to the men who were holding Kida. "Or she gets it."

The king's eyes widened, and he motioned to the guards, saying something in Atlantean, which Maria knew was the equivalent of "stand down."

Rourke smiled as the guards stood back, allowing for them to approach. "Good. Now, where's the power source?"

"You will never find it," the king responded in a hoarse voice.

Rourke frowned, frustration appearing on his face. "Look, old man, I've got no time for this." He marched across the water and up to the king, pointing a gun in his face. "Either you tell me, or you don't."

"That is a secret that I am not willing to divulge," the king stated calmly.

Maria couldn't help but flinch as Rourke punched the old man in the chest as retaliation. She admired the king for his courage, but the teen knew that the Atlantean king would not last very long after that...

Sweet left the crowd of invading hostiles and hostages and ran over to the king. "I thought you said we weren't going to hurt anyone," he growled at Rourke. He quickly started to look the old man over for any damage that might have been done by the attack.

"Things have changed," Rourke replied carelessly. He glared at Milo. "All right, kid. You'd better start translating what's in that book and find where the Crystal's hiding."

Milo shrugged helplessly. "There's nothing I can do! All it says is that it lies in the king's heart. There isn't anything else about it."

Rourke stomped over to Milo and took the Journal and stomped back over to the throne, glaring at the whole group from where he stood. "Yeah, well, you'd better hurry it up and figure it out," he snarled, waving the book about. He caught sight of the "a"-like symbol on the cover of it, and frowned. "Hmmm..." He lowered the book and caught sight of what he wanted to see. "There we are." He jumped into the pool and started to wade towards the spot that Maria knew to be where the secret platform was. "Stay here if you like. I'm taking the princess with me."

Milo and the other, prominent characters in the crew (excluding Sweet, who was keeping an eye on the king) moved over to where Rourke was now standing, Lea, Maria, and Riku following with a quick jump as the platform started to lower into the chamber below.

Maria mentally steeled herself for the upcoming scene as the platform lowered to the floor of the cavern, her eyes moving over to where the Crystal hid, surrounded by the carvings of the kings of the past. She wondered if Atlantis' life-source would do anything different than it had before, especially considering that there were three people there who weren't supposed to be, if the movie's events meant anything.

Lea's eyes scanned the walls of the cavern, letting out a soft whistle. "This looks like it hasn't been entered in _ages_."

"The king probably had this place sealed as soon as the crystal was moved down here," Maria murmured in response. "It used to be above the city, where everyone could see it."

The stone platform ground to a halt as it reached the cave floor, revealing that were they stood was the only dry area - the rest of the cave had a few feet of water covering the ground.

Kida's eyes widened. "The kings of our ancestors," she murmured, seeing the rock carvings hovering around the Crystal. Almost instantly, she collapsed in the ground and started to murmur something that Maria knew was a prayer of some sort, maybe for protection or help against something...or someone.

Rourke sent Milo a glare. "Get her up," he growled.

Milo shook his head. "It's some sort of ritual - no one's seen it for a few hundred years."

Rourke's glare intensified, and Milo reluctantly got Kida to stop the chant and get up off the cave floor.

Maria looked over at Helga, who was starting to make her way forward, her gun pointing suspiciously up at the crystal.

"How are we going to get it down?" Rourke's blond-haired accomplice asked.

"Cables, most likely," Rourke responded. He stepped forward in order to get a better look, accidentally kicking a rock into the water.

As soon as the rock touched the water, the blue light emanating from the Crystal turned a deep red, spotlights moving over the entire cave as if searching for something.

Lea and Riku gave Maria a curious look, to which the teen gave a knowing nod. She then looked over in Kida's direction, and the two boys turned to see where she was looking. The three watched as one of the spotlights found its way to her while the rest of the group was watching the Crystal uneasily.

"What's going on?" Lea muttered.

"The Crystal isn't just a hunk a jewelry," Maria murmured in response. "It's kinda like the city's security system, and it relies on the royal family to get the protocols activated properly. Last time it needed somebody, it took Kida's mom in order to sink the city." The teen caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye, and she turned slightly.

Red light instantly filled her vision, and she blacked out.


	25. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Liz, Jim, Sora, B.E.N., and Morph quickly climbed through the "back door" and into B.E.N.'s home, having easily avoided awakening anyone in the camp upon their return trip. Jim, upon catching sight of a sleeping form, moved over to it.

"Doc! Doc!" Jim exclaimed. "Wake up - we got the map!"

The sleeping form turned over...revealing that it was actually Silver.

"Fine work, Jimbo," Silver stated with a sly smile. "Fine work indeed."

Liz's eyes moved over to a corner, where Doppler, Amelia, and Kairi were tied and gagged, the dog yelling something incomprehensible.

"Thanks for showing us the way, boy," the pirate continued, getting up as the group backed up towards the back door. More pirates began to appear out of the woodwork, however, surrounding the group in order to prevent them from escaping.

"Ah!" B.E.N. yelped as the pirates closed in.

"And what's this sorry hunk of metal?" Silver asked, looking the rusted robot over.

"Not the face," B.E.N. whimpered. Liz figured that the robot had some sort of memory of getting slapped across the face.

Silver chuckled. "You're just like me, Jimbo - ya hates to lose." He approached Jim and looked him in the eye, taking the map from his hands. "Now, let's see..." He started trying to pry the sphere open, but no matter what configuration his robotic hand went to, nothing seemed to work.

"Open it," he growled at Jim, tossing the sphere over to the boy. "And be quick about it."

Jim shrugged and, after exchanging a glance with Liz, pressed specific areas of the sphere, causing the map to activate, becoming what seemed to be a trail of green stardust, which pulsed gently as it led out of the hut and to who knew where.

"Oh, the powers that be," Silver breathed. "Would you look at that?" He burst out into laughter. "Time him up and leave him with the others till we -" He blinked in confusion as the trail suddenly vanished back into the sphere.

"You want the map?" Jim asked. "You're taking us, too."

Silver let out a grunt of annoyance. "Hmmm..." He let out a quick chuckle. "Fine, then." He motioned to the pirates, and they forced the hostages out of the hut, tossing Doppler, Kairi, and Amelia into the boat they had brought from the ship.

Morph dug himself into the collar of Jim's shirt, his teeth chattering.

"It's okay, Morph," Jim muttered as he brought the map's trail back.

"Jimmy," B.E.N. murmured, "I-I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes." The android frowned. "At least, I think it's my life. Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupe?!"

"B.E.N., shhh!" Liz hissed. "This isn't over yet."

The group continued for a time, watching as the pulsing in the trail began to increase in speed, the noise that accompanied it becoming louder, as well.

Silver began to pick up his speed, and he was moving pretty quickly, too, despite his injured robotic leg. "We're getting close, lads. I smell treasure a-waitin'!" He let out a laugh and burst through the underbrush ahead of them...

...only to come out onto a rocky cliff overlooking a barren ravine, the trail stopping abruptly at the cliff's edge.

The pirates - as well as most of their hostages - looked around in confusion as the trail was sucked back into Jim's sphere.

"What is this?" one of the pirates demanded. The figure tried to dig into the cliff with the shovel he was carrying, only to be met with a resounding _clang_ from the cliffs.

"I see nothing!" the lookout screeched. "One big stinking hunk of nothing!"

Silver turned to look at Jim, who was struggling with the sphere. "What's going on, Jimbo?"

"I don't know!" the boy responded. "I can't get it open!"

"We should have never followed this boy!" yelled a pirate.

"I suggest you get that gizmo going again, and fast," Silver muttered.

"I say we rip his gizzard out right now!" another pirate shouted.

Jim ignored the cries for mutiny as he struggled to get the gizmo working again. Sora caught sight of something on the ground.

"What do you think that indent came from?" the Keyblade user asked, pointing to a circular indent in the ground. Jim caught sight of what Sora was pointing at, and instantly dove for it, clearing off the moss that had grown there.

"I say we throw him off the cliff!" a pirate shouted as Jim slammed the sphere into the indent. Instantly, the cries for the boy's death were silenced as a giant triangle appeared at the edge of the cliff.

"Oh, have mercy," Doppler murmured, his eyes wide.

"The Lagoon Nebula?" Jim asked, frowning. "But that's halfway across the galaxy."

"A big door opening and closing," Liz murmured, looking over at B.E.N.

Jim gave the girl a look of surprise, only to get what she was saying. "Let's see... Kinapis."

The triangle's image flickered, changing to a desert planet.

"Montressor Spaceport."

The image became the familiar docks that the crew had left behind some time ago.

"So that's how Flint did it," Jim realized. "He used this portal to roam the universe stealing treasure."

"But where'd he stash it all?" Sora asked, frowning.

"But where's the blasted treasure?!" Silver demanded.

The pirates looked at each other, then started to try and dig into the cliff, only to run into the earth with the sound of metal clashing against metal.

"It's buried..." Liz murmured.

"...in the centroid of the mechanism," Jim finished. "What if the whole planet was the mechanism..."

"...and the treasure is buried in the center of the planet?" Liz reached into the small grid-like map that had materialized in front of the portal and touched the place that resembled Treasure Planet. Instantly, the portal's image flickered, revealing piles upon piles of gold.

The pirates let out a whoop of excitement, then surged forward. Silver stopped them from going any further, however, and stepped across the portal, and into the giant treasure room. Liz swallowed as she watched his robotic leg set off the alarm, which began to beep quietly. They would have some time to look around, but it wouldn't be very long before Flint's booby-trap of all booby-traps came into play.

Sora took note of the girl's hesitant look as they walked through the portal. "Is something up?"

"Nothing that we should probably be too worried about," Liz responded. "Just a suggestion - be on your guard when things start to melt."

"The loot of a thousand worlds..." Silver murmured.

"We are going to need a bigger boat!" the lookout added, looking over the large pile of gold and jewels that made the planet's core.

"This is all seeming very familiar," B.E.N. murmured, tapping the back of his rusting head. "Can't remember why."

"B.E.N., come on," Jim said, ignoring the robot and his friends' nervous looks. "We're getting out of here, and we're not leaving empty-handed."

Meanwhile, Silver was kneeling in the gold. "At long last, after a lifetime of searching, I can touch it." He dug his hands into the precious metal, coming up with gold and jewels of various kinds and sizes.

"Do you know what's strange?" B.E.N. asked as the continued to hike up one of the piles of gold. "I can't tell you how frustrating this is, Jimmy, cause there's something just - it's nagging at the back of my head."

"Even though you _have_ nothing at the back of your head?" Liz remarked dryly.

B.E.N. gave Liz an odd look and was about to say something when Sora let out a yelp of surprise.

"Who's that?" the Keyblade user asked, pointing at a skeleton sitting in what appeared to be a skiff.

"Captain Flint?" Liz guessed.

"In the flesh!" B.E.N. exclaimed. "Well, s-sort of, except for skin, organs, or anything that-that-that resembles flesh...that's not there. And yet, it's so odd, you know? I remember that there was something horrible...something Flint didn't want anyone else to know...but - just can't remember what it was. Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!"

Liz's eyes moved over to where Flint's skeleton lay, and, taking control of the situation, moved over to the pirate's clenched hand and tore it open, pulling out the tech the skeletal fingers were holding. "B.E.N., I think I just found your mind." She moved over to the robot and grabbed the back of his head. "Hold still."

"Ahh!" B.E.N. exclaimed. "Lizzy, your hands are very, very cold." There was a clicking noise as the bit of tech snapped back into place at the back of B.E.N.'s head. "Whoa!" He blinked in surprise as Liz removed her hand from the robot's head. "You know, uh, Jimmy, I was just thinking... I was just think - It's all flooding back! All my memories! Right up until Flint pulled my memory circuits so I could never tell anybody about his booby trap!"

At the words "booby trap," there was a loud crashing noise somewhere on the golden sphere.

"You'd better explain," Sora stated. "Fast."

"Flint wanted to make sure that no one would ever steal his treasure," B.E.N. stated. "So he rigged this entire planet to blow higher than a Kalepsian kite!"

The sphere started to break apart as the gold began to melt and disappear, and the pirates were scattered.

"Run, Jimmy!" B.E.N. yelled. "Run for your life!"

Jimmy shook his head, looking over the skiff. "You guys go back and help the Captain and Doc. If I'm not out of here in ten minutes, leave without me."

"I am not leaving my buddy Jimmy," the robot stated boldly. When Jim glared at him, he stated, "Unless he looks at me like that. Bye, Jim!" The robot turned and ran off for the portal, where Doppler, Amelia, and Kairi were still waiting.

Jim turned his glare to Sora and Liz, who gave him the same glare in return.

"I am definitely not leaving without you," Liz stated.

"Neither am I," Sora agreed. "What do you need us to do in order to get this thing flying?"

Jim blinked in confusion for a moment, then started telling them where the power couplings were and how to get them moving. Liz managed to push Flint and his throne off the skiff, lightening the boat's load by a lot. They left what gold was on the skiff there - Jim had insisted that they all get something out of it.

It wasn't long before the skiff powered up, the ragged sails filling with an unfelt wind.

"Yes!" Jim exclaimed. "We are so out of here!" He steered the skiff quickly over to where the portal was and started to get it moving smoothly. Just before they reached the portal, though, something caught Sora's eye.

"Look down there!" the brown-haired boy exclaimed, pointing to a break in the sphere's surface. "It's Silver!"

Jim looked down, then, after a moment, steered the skiff down to where the cyborg pirate was hanging by a thread.

"Ah, Jimbo!" Silver exclaimed as the skiff approached. "Aren't you the seventh wonder of the universe?" He reached out his free hand, and Liz and Sora grabbed it, hauling him up. "So, what now?"

"We're going to leave this stuff behind and get out of here," Liz stated flatly as Jim steered them out of the portal

"What? But what about the gold?"

The girl shrugged. "It's just a lifelong obsession - you'll get over it."

As they reached the _Legacy_, B.E.N. waved vigorously to them, calling out, "Aloha, Jimmy! You'd better hurry - we've got exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds till planet's destruction!"

Jim landed the skiff on the ship's deck and jumped off as the entire ship tilted to one side. Liz could have sworn that she could have heard the lookout screaming from below.

"Take us out of here, metal man!" Amelia ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" B.E.N. saluted. He turned to the ship's navigation systems and started to work quickly.

"Ah, Captain, you dropped from the heavens in the nick of time," Silver stated as he came off Flint's skiff with a smile.

"Save your claptrap for the judge, Silver!" Amelia snapped from her position next to the wheel, where Doppler was standing nervously.

"Missile tail demobilized, Captain!" B.E.N. warned. "Thrusters at only 50% capacity!"

"50%?" Doppler repeated, his eyes widening. "That means we'll -"

"We'll never clear the explosion in time," Amelia repeated, a grim look on her face.

Jim frowned. "We gotta turn around," he stated.

"What?" Doppler asked.

"There's a portal back there!" Liz called out, catching on. "It can get us out of here!"

"But, wasn't it open to that mess we left behind?" Sora asked, worried.

"Yes," Jim admitted, "but I'm gonna change that. I'm going to open a different door."

"Captain," Doppler responded, "I don't see how this is possible -"

"Listen to the boy!" Amelia ordered.

"One minute, 29 seconds to planet's destruction!" B.E.N. shouted.

"Turn this thing around!" Sora shouted as Silver ran off to help Jim with his lifeline.

"Working on it!" Doppler called back as he spun the wheel. The ship responded to his touch, turning around quickly to face the portal.

"Fifty-eight seconds!" B.E.N. called.

"Come on, come on," Liz muttered as they approached the portal, Jim leaning out of the ship as the map approached. "We can make it."

She watched as Jim reached out for the map and touched the one place of the map that pointed to someplace safe: near the Montressor Spaceport. Just as they cleared the portal, Treasure Planet exploded, and was no more.


	26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

_Maria looked around the strange, bright blue area, wondering if someone had dumped her in the water and left her there. Then she recalled the red light which had hit her, and she reached a panicked state. "Where am I?" she demanded. "And what brought me here in the first place?"_

**_"Relax_**_," a voice responded, resonating throughout the area. Oddly, it was accompanied by a wave of soothing energy. "_**_You are not harmed. I have simply placed you in what you humans call 'limbo' while I make sure that you aren't a threat._**_"_

_Maria was a little disturbed by this, but the energy was dulling this feeling. "I'm not sure that I like the idea of someone poking around in my head."_

_"_**_No one does. Then again, it must be done._**_"_

_Maria frowned, and then her eyes widened. "You're the Crystal, aren't you?"_

_"_**_You are correct. Pray tell, how did you guess?_**_"_

_"The blue color, for one. And then there was how you referred to me as something entirely different from you." Maria looked around. "Is there any way that you could represent yourself, somehow? It feels kinda odd to be talking to thin air, especially when I'm basically floating in the middle of nowhere."_

_Almost instantly, a figure appeared in front of her. It was human in form, with the white hair of the Atlanteans, and the robes of the king. However, what startled Maria was the altogether appearance of the figure._

_"You're...Kidagakash's mom," Maria stated slowly._

_The figure smiled. "_**_So you know of the royal family. It is good to see that a child of a world beyond is familiar with our culture._**_"_

_Maria blinked in surprise. "You know I'm not from around here?"_

_"_**_It has been many a year since a child of your power has graced our halls. I cannot help but wonder if you came here because of that man._**_"_

_"Who, Rourke?" Upon seeing the woman frown, Maria said quickly, "I don't have any sort of connections with that idiot. I came along for the ride because I'm trying to gain control of my newfound abilities. Lea and Riku, my friends, came along to help me out."_

_"_**_And yet, you know a lot about this Rourke,_**_" the Crystal noted. "_**_Have you run into him before?_**_"_

_"My world has connections with the rest of the dimensions," Maria explained. "Somewhere along the way, a group of people managed to show the rest of my world the events that are taking place here now. That's when I first saw Rourke. I know how he should be wiped out, but now that my friends and I have been thrown into the mix, I have no idea how this is going to go."_

_The Crystal looked at Maria curiously. "_**_How can you be certain that he will not live to see the light of day again?_**_"_

_"Your power doesn't exactly mix with someone who isn't a part of the royal family - at least, when you don't want it to." Maria nodded into the space above her head, somehow managing to bring up the memory of watching Rourke in his crystallized form falling to his death. "It wasn't a pretty sight, even though I wasn't there in person."_

_The Crystal watched as the image vanished. "_**_Despite of where you are, you seem to be comfortable with your surroundings. Why?_**_"_

_Maria shrugged. "I've kinda been toying with the idea of alternate dimensions where things I've seen on TV exist, so it doesn't surprise me the I'm talking to you about someone else who I've probably seen die ten times over, thanks to the technology of my world. If anything, I would be surprised if someone actually managed to follow me home when things are balanced out here." The teen's eyes once more scanned the area. "So, are you done picking through my brain?"_

_The figure nodded. "_**_I have been done for the past ten minutes._**_"_

_"Then...why did you detain me?"_

_"_**_I wished to converse with the child who has a difficult path ahead of her, as well as such a difficult past." _**_The Crystal waved a hand, and a ball of blue energy flew at Maria. "_**_Go. This is my gift to you._**_"_

_The energy hit the confused teen in the chest, causing the girl to gasp in surprise as the energy was absorbed into her body while everything around her faded to black..._


	27. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Maria woke up with a gasp and sat up quickly, her vision blurry from the quick movement. Blinking in order to readjust to the amount if light, she rubbed her eyes, realizing with a start that she wasn't wearing her glasses. The teen looked around quickly, and, much to her surprise, found that she could see quite well without them, and that the colors were a lot more prominent and sharp, as well.

As Maria looked around in confusion, she realized that she was back in the throne room, lying near the pond that took up most of the space. Her gaze went over to where the king was lying, only to find that the prominent members of the crew (minus Helga and Rourke) were standing there. Instantly, the teen recalled what had occurred in the movie, and figured that the two treasure hunters had already made off with Kida and the Crystal, since the two had most likely merged. Maria, knowing that what was going to happen next was the climax, started to get up, so that she could move closer to the group to hear and see what they were discussing.

The girl's movements caught Sweet's attention, causing the African American to leave the group and move over to the teen's side.

"Easy," the doctor warned. "You could have a concussion from your fall down there."

"I doubt I have one," Maria retorted. "The Crystal made it so that I don't need glasses - I think it would have made sure that I didn't have a head injury."

Sweet gave her an odd look, a frown appearing on his face. "Well, you should still be careful." He slipped his left arm under Maria's right and around her back, helping the teen get up.

Feeling something bump against her chest, Maria looked down, and found, much to her surprise, that someone had placed an Atlantean crystal shard on a leather string around her neck.

The crew's doctor caught her staring. "One of the guards put that there, but he didn't say why."

Maria gained a surprised look. _Huh. I guess the crystal has more power than Disney realized._ She decided to get her bearings, and looking around, asked. "I suppose Rourke took off?"

"Yup," Lea responded, coming out of the group. Maria took note of the crystal that hung around his neck, suspecting that he had talked to the city's strange life-support system, as well. "And then Vinny blew up the bridge."

"Sorry," the mentioned Italian said with a shrug.

"Riku's out there, trying to take care of a Heartless ambush that appeared out of nowhere," the red headed Keyblade user added, jabbing with his thumb in the direction of the room's doors. "Sweet insisted I stay in here."

"Riku is better off than either of you," Sweet explained.

"Because he's been through worse," Maria countered, she looked over at where the king lay, but knew that whatever the old man was telling Milo was supposed to be for the scholar's ears alone. "We should go after Rourke and Hag Helga."

Lea stifled a laugh while Audrey shook her head.

"We'd need a flying machine," the mechanic stated. "And all the ones we brought with us are on the other side of the broken bridge." Audrey shot a glare at Vinny, prompting another apology from the bomb maker.

Maria looked over at Milo, then back at Lea. "What about that thing Kida showed us earlier? We've got the stuff to activate it." She grabbed her crystal with her left hand, since her right was keeping a tight grip on Sweet's back. "And where's there's one, there has to be more." Dropping the crystal and summoning her staff, she slipped out of Sweet's grip and leaned against her magical weapon, seeing as she was still recovering slightly.

Milo seemed to stiffen a little. The scholar turned to look at Maria, the king's crystal in his hand. "What do you mean?"

Maria shrugged. "Well, it seems to me that these flying fish things were probably mass-produced at one point. There might be more than one scattered around the city." She started to limp towards the doors.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to head out there now?" Sweet asked.

"Sure," Maria responded. "Riku is going to need some help, anyway. Come on, Lea."

Just as Maria was reaching the door, Riku burst through, an Atlantean crystal bouncing around his neck.

"They've retreated for now, but we don't have much time until they get back," the Keyblade Master warned.

"Then now's the time to get to there and find some transportation to go after Rourke," Maria stated matter-of-factly.

Riku gave her a look of surprise. "What? Now?"

"It's the only way for us to go after them," the girl explained. "Vinny blew up the bridge, remember?"

"I said I was sorry!" Vinny shouted.

Riku's surprise gave way to a serious look. "We'll have to move quickly - the Heartless won't just give up because I slaughtered the ones they sent after us."

Maria nodded. "Right." Turning back to look at the crew and the king's guards (who couldn't really guard the royal family because one was dead and the other had been kidnapped), the teen stated, "We're going to have to move fast. Those black monsters are gone for now, but they will come back. Milo, Lea, Riku, and I know of a transportation device that we can use to go after Rourke and rescue the Crystal." She started to walk towards the door. "Let's move."

"We'll watch out for any Heartless attacks," Lea added, moving to the door to stand by Riku.

Milo gave the three surprised looks, but that was soon replaced by one of determination. Giving the three a nod, he stepped towards the door.


	28. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Maria let out a quiet sigh of exhaustion as she flopped down on an unclaimed "flying fish" - one which looked like a dolphin of some kind. The Heartless - dark creatures that they were - had pounced on the group the moment the throne room's doors had shut behind them. In order to combat the menace, Lea, Riku, and Maria had spread themselves out around the group, using their weapons and abilities to keep the Heartless at bay, Milo leading the way to the clearing where Kida had shown them the fish earlier that day. It had been slow going, but no one had been lost to the darkness.

As soon as they had reached the clearing, the Heartless had left them alone, staying at the outer edges, their yellow eyes glaring from the underbrush. Milo, ignoring the creatures, had managed to show the guards how to activate the "flying fish," using a hammerhead shark as an example. Maria thought that the entire group was lucky - not only were there enough "fish" to create a small fleet, but the crystals didn't need to stay in them for the technological wonders to stay active, which meant that the crew from the world above could ride fish without having to sit behind one of the Atlanteans.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head, the teen removed the crystal from her neck and inserted it into the dashboard of her ride. "Half turn right; quarter turn left; keep your hand on the pad," Maria muttered, filling out the instructions accordingly. Instantly, the dolphin-like transport came to life, and she removed her crystal from the hole and jumped on, surprised when she felt like there was something slowly draining energy out of either her or the crystal - unfortunately, she couldn't tell which.

Maria shook the worrying thought out of her head, turning her attention to the controls of the dolphin, which weren't so simple. It took the teen a few minutes of putzing around and slamming into the tree in front of her before she had figured out how to make the transport ascend and descend, as well as shoot energy spheres from the dolphin's nose.

"There you are!" Maria's head shot up, catching sight of Lea and Riku on similar transports.

Lea gave the teen a huge grin. "Everybody's been good to go for the past minute. Are you up for it?"

Maria sent a grin back. "Just about." She directed her dolphin to a position beside the two Keyblade wielders, then followed them to where the rest of the "fleet" was located.

Milo flew over in his hammerhead shark. "You three finally ready to go?" There was a determined tone in his voice, like he was ready to go and chew someone out for forgetting him in the Smithsonian basement again.

Maria gave the scholar a thumbs-up. "I'm raring to go. Let's send those mercenary treasure hunters into the next century!"

Milo nodded in agreement. "Let's go get the Crystal back." He directed his transport to face the cliff side on the other side of the canyon. With a loud shout, he took off over the canyon, the rest of the surprisingly large "fleet" following.

"How many of these fish things do you think there are?" Lea asked as the three moved forward with the rest of the group.

Maria shrugged. "There's probably hundreds scattered around the city," she remarked. A thought entered her mind, and a mischievous grin crossed her face. "Race you there!" Before the other two could say anything in response, the teen somehow managed to find the gas pedal of her transport, and rocketed away from Lea and Riku. The two Keyblade users, after exchanging grins, took off after her, leaning forward to try and get a little more speed.

As they reached the entrance to the volcano, Maria looked back and called out, "When Milo goes and fights Rourke, we help him from afar. This is his fight - we shouldn't really interrupt it unless he really needs it."

"We saw the Heartless," Lea remarked as the went through the tunnel. "This is going to be more than just what you saw before."

Maria glanced back at the redhead. "You're probably right," she agreed. She reached out with her right hand, summoning her staff.

"Don't use that," Riku called out. "You've got those fire powers of yours to perfect."

Maria looked at the Keyblade Master curiously, but then complied, her staff vanishing in a shower of fiery sparks. "I will bring it out as a last resort," she stated. "Let's go."

They emerged from the tunnel, arriving at what looked like a large chaotic battle which had no clear winner. There were World War II biplanes flying in and among the Atlantean fleet, trying to pick off the riders, while the fish were blasting the wings off the planes with large blasts of crackling blue energy.

Maria lowered her dolphin as one of the planes passed over them. Looking up, she noticed that the man piloting it didn't have a gas mask on, revealing a pitch black face and glowing yellow eyes. "A Heartless!" she exclaimed. A moment, later, the plane exploded, thanks to a blast from Riku's ride.

"It seems they have been attracted by Rourke's greed," Riku called out. "Head out and take down as many of those flying machines as you can!" With that, the Keyblade user blasted forward, going after one of the planes.

Maria nodded in agreement. "This is certainly going to be interesting," she noted. Before giving Lea a chance to respond, she took off into the cavern, a finger on the part of the dash that controlled the weapons, the rest on the steering.

The entire airfield may as well have been an obstacle course, what with avoiding the bullets from the planes and the blasts from the Atlanteans. It somewhat helped that the blasts only charged up her dolphin more, rather than damage her ride, but Maria couldn't help but feel cautious about taking too many.

The Heartless Pilots were actually pretty predictable, each of them flying around in continuous circles - especially when there was someone chasing them. However, they were still rather fast and hard to aim at, so Maria had a bit of a hard time actually getting a direct hit on them. Most of the time, she would clip a wing or the tail of the plane, then manage to get the gas main when the plane started to spiral a little out of control. It wasn't picture perfect, but it managed to get the job done. Eventually, there were very few planes left.

That's when the Heartless called for reinforcements. Giant _bat_ Heartless.

"You have _got _to be _kidding me_!" Maria yelled as the leather-winged creatures started to descend from the cave roof. "How are we going to get rid of those things?!"

"Same way as before!" Lea called back. "Only we're going to do it your way - wings first, then aim for the center." He flew away from the girl, summoning his Keyblade as he did. A moment later, there was a red flash as the weapon scorched through one of the Heartless' wings, causing it to screech in pain.

Maria's eyes widened at this sight, then realized that she had been neglecting to use the abilities she had gained over the course of her trip. Taking her right hand off the trigger, she pointed it at one of the bats and concentrated all of her frustration because of the Heartless into her hand. A large sphere of fire instantly appeared, flew at one of the creature's wings, and caused the entire monster to burst into flames.

Maria grinned hugely. "Now that's what I call firepower!" She promptly took off after another bat Heartless, charging up for another attack.

The dark creatures, although slower than the planes, were also hard to keep up with because they were constantly doing nosedives and pulling up just before they would come into contact with the ground. The Atlanteans who had come with them - as well as Mole and Vinny - soon learned to try and fire at them just as they were starting to come up from their dive, or fire at them from above when they were open for attack. Fortunately for them, the Heartless creatures also destroyed whatever of their brethren were on the ground, as well as the human weaponry a lot of them were manning - antiaircraft weapons, biplane launchers **[a/n: you get the idea]**.

At one point, Maria stopped for a quick breather, high above the battlefield, keeping her eyes peeled for any sort of activity that might point towards the final scene of the movie she had watched back at home. Automatically, she spotted the maroon-shaded mini-zeppelin/hot-air balloon that Rourke had attached the Crystal's containment box to. It didn't seem to have been disrupted by anything yet, so Maria decided to fly down and try to get a closer look. What she saw caused her to narrow her eyes and grit her teeth in annoyance.

Milo was being held down by a giant rat/bat Heartless on the balloon's steel platform, while Rourke looked on with a smirk on his face.


	29. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"That is NOT supposed to happen," Maria growled with annoyance. She got up, trying desperately to keep her balance as the dolphin bucked a little under her feet. In an desperate move, she jumped off the dolphin and reached for the steel platform, only just getting her hands on it. She knew that Kida's prison swung below her as Audrey and Sweet tried to saw at the chain that kept it connected to the balloon.

As the teen started to get up, Rourke caught sight of her climbing up and came over.

"Well, well, look what we have here," he stated, peering down at the teen. "A stowaway."

Maria let out a growl in response. "And what about that rat?" she demanded, looking over at the Heartless.

"What, Helga?" Rourke glanced in the Heartless' direction. "She's no rat." He looked back at Maria. "But you are." He put one boot on one of Maria's hands and pushed down, causing the teen to snarl in pain. "And I want you off my ship."

Maria's eyes narrowed, gritted her teeth, then grabbed Rourke's boot. "I'm calling a mutiny," she growled, white sparks seeming to to fly off her shoulders.

Rourke shrugged. "Does it look like I care?" He reached down and started to pry Maria's hand off his foot.

Maria's eyes narrowed even further, and unnoticed by her, the crystal shard began to glow brightly. "You know what? I'm getting _reeally_ mad, and you don't want me mad."

Rourke seemed amused by this. "And why not?"

The treasure hunter soon got his answer. Maria's form began to slowly heat up, forcing Rourke to step back before his feet were covered in burns. The steel platform Maria was grabbing onto began to turn red, as well.

"Stay _back_!" Maria roared, white fire blasting from her form in all directions. Even without her watching, the fire turned into ribbons of flame that attacked the Heartless in the area...including the creature that had originally been Helga.

The rat-Heartless let out a shriek of pain as two strands of white fire hit it in the back, causing the monster to writhe in pain. It stumbled away from Milo, over Maria's head and down into the battle below, where it's screams were stopped short by a zapping noise.

As the fire dissipated, Maria's vision started to blur, and she began to pant heavily, her grip on the platform weakening. Just as her hands slipped off the platform, Milo reached out and grabbed her.

"What was that?" Milo asked, breathless with surprise at what had just happened.

"What was what?" Maria asked, panting.

"That white fire thing," the scholar responded. "It took out the rat thing."

Maria's eyes widened slightly, and a weak smile came across her face. "Heh...I guess you could call it...White Flare. That has to be the first time I've used that...but...it feels like I've done it...before."

"And I wouldn't suggest you to use it again," Milo responded. "That almost killed you."

"Aww, too bad," Rourke said, causing Milo's and Maria's heads to turn. "Looks like I'll have to kill you myself." He pointed his gun at the two, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

"Hey, you!" Lea flew up beside the platform. "Back away from those two! All your Heartless have been destroyed. Give it up!"

Rourke's head turned to look at the redhead. "What makes you think I'm done? I'm only just starting!" Dark energy started to come off him in snaking tendrils, weaving through the platform.

"Oh yeah?" Maria tried to get up, but was still dizzy after the attack. "Well, same with us!"

Lea nodded in agreement, then threw a fireball at Rourke, forcing the man to stumble backwards. "And there's more where that came from!"

"Lea, help the others rescue Kida!" Riku ordered as he flew over. "I'll take it from here." He leapt onto the platform, Keyblade in hand. "Milo, get Maria out of here."

The scholar nodded quickly, then helped Maria over to Riku's dolphin, jumping on after her. "Be careful!" he called out.

Riku gave Milo a nod in return, then gave his complete attention to Rourke, who was grinning manically as the dark energy converged on his form.

Maria's eyes widened. "Definitely didn't happen before," she muttered, causing Milo to look at her in confusion.

The darkness surrounding Rourke dissipated as he moved forward, revealing a giant, humanoid Heartless with the treasure hunter's form with the glowing yellow eyes that accompanied each of the heart-stealers.

Riku's eyes narrowed, and he charged at Rourke, bringing his Keyblade back for a head-chopping swing. Below, the chain that held the Crystal's prison in place broke apart as melting ooze, Lea's dolphin catching the metal box before it could fall too far. As the balloon's platform buckled and jumped from the sudden loss of weight, Rourke somehow managed to stumble away from Riku's attack, the Keyblade user going in close to see if he could find a weak point.

Rouke let out a primeval roar, jumping forward to grab the boy, who managed to evade the creature's claws. However, the monster _did_ catch the leather thong around the Keyblade user's neck. Raising the necklace, the Heartless looked at the Atlantean shard with blank curiosity. Cautiously, it reached out and grabbed the crystal.

**_If you think that power is capable of being channelled by you, think again!_** an angered voice echoed in Maria's head, causing the teen to stiffen.

"What did she _do_ to me?" Maria murmured, causing Milo's confusion to increase.

"What do you mean?" the scholar asked, confused.

"When I was knocked out back there, I actually had a conversation with the Crystal itself," the teen explained, causing Milo's eyes to widen. "She gave me some sort of...gift, she called it - a blue sphere of some sort. That's why I'm not wearing my glasses - I don't need them because of that. But it seems as though I've got some sort of mental connection to her, as well..."

Milo frowned. "You mean that it can talk to you through your mind?"

"It just did - something about Rourke trying to channel her power..."

Rourke let out a shriek of pain, catching their attention. Maria's eyes widened in surprise as blue crystal began to overtake the Heartless' form, creating the blue statue she had seen so often on TV.

"There we go," Maria remarked. "Now he's about as fragile as glass." Raising her voice, she called out, "Riku, push him into the balloon's propellers! He won't bother anyone anymore that way!"

Riku looked back at her in surprise. "You can't be serious! Is there any way to change him back?"

**_No,_** the Crystal's voice echoed in their heads. **_The change is permanent to those with dark hearts. The monster has been overtaken by his greed, and is no longer the man you knew._**

Milo's eyes widened, and he gave Maria a surprised look, which the teen nodded in return to. Meanwhile, Riku started to approach the statue.

Suddenly, the Rourke-monster let out a shriek and reached out to grab Riku, but he quickly ducked; the statue's movements were hindered by the crystal that now made up its form. The Keyblade user then rammed into the crystal figure, which stumbled backwards, falling into the balloon's propeller blades, the monster's shrieking cut short.

Riku's face contorted into a disgusted look as he peered over the side. "Not pretty."

Maria also looked disgusted - her view from the dolphin hadn't been entirely unobstructed, either. "I'm glad they never showed that back at home." She looks about quickly, seeming to sense something. "We're going to have to move. Now."

Before Milo could ask why, the walls of the dormant volcano around them began to shake.

"The volcano!" Mole shouted. "She wakes!"

"We've got to move now, or we all go boom!" Vinny added as he flew by them.

Milo's eyes widened as he caught sight of the lava exploding out of the ground far below them. "Everyone, go out the way you came!" he shouted, turning the dolphin around.

Riku leapt off the platform and onto the device's tail, holding onto the dorsal fin behind Maria and Milo. "Let's move."

The dolphin took off for the tunnel that led out of the volcano, the remains of the fleet joining them as the volcanic rock flowed into the crater and started to grow in volume.

Maria looked back as they burst through the tunnel, her eyes widening when she caught sight of what was in the lava. "Heartless!" she exclaimed.

Riku looked back, as well, then turned around completely and started to slash at the creatures whenever they got too close to the Atlantean transport. "We have to get back to the city!" he called out.

"That won't be too long," Maria muttered. She reached over and slammed down on the boost, causing the dolphin to lurch forward and clear the tunnel in record time, the other groups following them out not long after.

As Lea's dolphin cleared the tunnel, just barely skidding over Mole's abandoned drill, the lava followed with a vengeance, sending the metal construct over the side of the cliff. The entire group, thankfully unharmed, managed to make it to the city's main square, Lea landing his craft in the center.

"So, how are we going to open this?" Audrey asked. "And no, we are not going to use your saw!" She glared at Sweet, who raised his hands in submission.

"We got this," Lea stated boldly as he and Riku summoned their Keyblades. The two boys promptly pointed their weapons at the capsule's door, white lasers shooting off the business end of the keys.

There was an audible _click_, and the metal door swung open, only to be completely knocked off its hinges as the rest of the capsule was torn apart at the seams, revealing a Crystallized Kida.

Maria grabbed the two Keyblade users, having since gotten some of her strength back, and pulled them a good distance away from the center of the square. "You don't want to be too close to her when it goes off," she warned.

"When what goes off?" Lea asked.

"Those rocks that were surrounding the Crystal below the throne room? They're going to come up through the floor."

The three watched as Milo backed away quickly from Kida as bulges started to crack through the ground, then exploded as the carvings of the ancient kings burst through, taking the Crystal Kida up into the space above the city.

Maria glanced over at the volcano, taking note that the lava had pretty much burst through the wall, the ravine starting to fill with the molten rock. "Won't be long now."

Above them, the carvings began to spin faster and faster around the Crystal, who had now regained its original, spherical shape. Beams of light began to exit from the sphere, hitting the statues that surrounded the city, causing them to come up and create the energy shield around Atlantis just as the lava crashed onto the city's end of the ravine.

Maria's eyes sparkled with amazement as the lava rolled over the energy shield like it was the rocky sides of the volcano. The teen mentally predicted that, somewhere above them, people on ships were watching lava boil up at the ocean's surface with great confusion.

As the lava hardened with the unusual quickness that Maria had seen in the movies, everything went dark except for the pale light of the Atlantan crystal shards and the great, spinning sphere above them. About a minute later, Atlantan symbols began to appear in the obsidian rock, each one glowing a bright green. Maria then noticed that all the Atlantean crystals were glowing the same color, and that the Atlanteans themselves were calm and collected. The teen could help but feel calm, as well, and wondered if the shade meant that they were safe from harm.

"That thing is pretty powerful," Lea noted, looking up at the Crystal above their heads. "If anyone gets on it's bad side, they're dead."

"Rourke did, remember?" Maria responded. "Crystal statue falls through propellers to his death?"

The two Keyblade users nodded in agreement and the obsidian fell from the shield and into the ravine. Within seconds, the shell had disappeared, and the energy shield had dissipated.

Milo ran over to the three. "Thanks," the scholar stated, excitement clear on his face.

"For what?" Maria inquired.

"For helping me in all this." Milo looked and sounded relieved that the excursion was all over. "Without you, we wouldn't have survive the trip, much less get the Crystal back." He looked up at the strange lifesource above them almost wishfully.

Maria looked up at the Crystal, as well, knowing full well what was going to take place next. Sure enough, a moment later, a beam of light went down from the crystal to the center of the square, and a figure emerged from the Crystal and started to descend. Not long after, to the girl's confusion, a second figure appeared beside the beam of light.

The teen exchanged glances with Milo, then approached the figure on the ground cautiously, while the scholar ran over to where Kida was going to collapse on the ground.

**"You have done well, Maria,"** the figure that looked like Kida's mother stated as the mentioned girl approached. **"Your insight into the future has served you well."**

Maria looked embarrassed at this. "I-it was nothing, really," she murmured.

**"It was something, Maria. And it was because of this that I gave you that gift."**

Maria looked at the woman in alarm. "What do you mean by that?"

**"The gift I gave you was not just healing for your eyes, but also a sight you can use in the days to come. You are a being who can put this knowledge to good use; I have for seen it."**

Maria's eyes widened. "You don't mean that I can look into the future, do you?"

**"As well as the past. You need not be afraid - it shall only come to use when you touch an object or sense something out of place. Until the time you have need of it, this power shall remain dormant."**

"So, no sudden visions when I don't have need of them."

**"Correct."**

Maria scratched the back of her head, then glanced over at Kida and Milo, only for her to look away again - how Disney had missed the strangely passionate kiss the two were having, she had no idea. "But, why?"

Kida's mother smiled kindly. **"I have seen that you will have need of this ability in times that you don't know where to go next."** The smile faded, and a serious look appeared. **"There will also be times when you will need a warning of trials to come. Use this gift wisely, and you will survive to meet your destiny."**

Maria frowned in confusion at this. "What-"

Before the teen could finish her question, the woman turned into light, then zapped up to the Crystal, getting Milo and Kida out of their lip lock in surprise.

"So that's what the king meant," Milo murmured in astonishment, watching the Crystal above their heads. "Incredible."

Maria let out a sigh. "And now I've got a big puzzle ahead of me," she muttered under her breath. Turning to look at Milo, she stated, "Well, it looks like we could probably go back up, now."

Milo's eyes widened at this, but then a sad look crossed his face, and he looked over at Kida. Seeing an identical look on her face, he remarked, "I'd...rather stay. They're going to need my help in order to revive their culture. At least, what's left of it."

Maria cocked her head slightly, studying the scholar. "Is that your final choice on the matter? Cause if it is, you probably won't be going back up ever again."

Milo looked into Kida's eyes for a moment longer, then nodded. "Yes, it is. I'm staying."

A huge grin crossed Kida's face, and she clapped her hands with delight. "Thank you, Milo! Thank you!"

Maria smiled. "I'll make sure to tell the others. You guys go ahead and...enjoy the moment, I guess." With that, she turned and walked towards what remained of the submarine's crew, confidence in every step.


	30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Liz had enjoyed the return trip immensely. Not only were there no mutinies on the _Legacy,_ but there was a rare calm about space - no black holes or Heartless of any kind. A serene smile on her face, the girl thought back to events the night before...

_Despite the fact that everyone had almost died in Flint's Booby Trap, there was a festive feeling in the air. The pirates were let out for a quick breather without their weapons, and drinks from a hidden stash somewhere on the ship were passed around. Luckily, there was no alcohol of any kind in them - apparently, the people in this section of space get drunk on sugary fruit drinks - so Kairi, Sora, Liz, and Jim were able to take a sip from the selection, as well. At about midnight (or what would count as such), a strange hole appeared in one of the sails - a Keyhole, to be precise. Sora and Kairi had promptly fired beams of light from both their Keyblades into the hole, making the world locked from Heartless attacks. The crew, thinking that it was a fireworks display, had oohed and aahed, while Doppler and Amelia had hidden themselves away in the Captains Quarters...something about more suitable drinks and more suitable company._

"Hey, Liz!"

The girl turned her head, catching sight of a certain spiky-haired Keyblade user. "What's up, Sora?"

"Kairi and Jim want us to come down by the skiffs," Sora replied. "Come on!"

The two dashed off the main deck (where a few stragglers from the night before were wandering about, moaning about hangovers), and into the interior of the ship. Within a matter of minutes, they had reached the dock Sora had mentioned.

Liz couldn't help but chuckle. They had caught Silver in the act of slipping away!

The cyborg pirate looked up at the group, surprised to see them watching him.

"Hello, kiddies," he greeted. "What're you doing down here? Shouldn't you be in bed after last night?"

"We aren't affected by that stuff as much as you guys," Liz responded with a shrug. "What about you? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I don't drink," Silver stated flatly. Morph came out from underneath one of the seats of the skiff as the cyborg continued, "Listen, I don't want to be too much of a bother, but could you kids let me, well, slip out? See, Morphy is a bit of a free spirit - I can't very well keep 'im in a cage."

The pink blob seemed to purr in response to this, rubbing on the side of Silver's face.

"It seems like you're more of a free spirit than he is," Sora noted, folding his arms across his chest.

"What makes you say that?" Silver asked, chuckling nervously.

"You could have given Morph to us for safekeeping," Kairi responded. "Instead, you're slipping away."

The cyborg held up his hands in submission. "All right, ye caught me. But would you mind lettin' me go, just this once? Now that me dream is complete, I want to go out - see the galaxy fer meself!"

The four kids exchanged glances. Then Jim looked back at Silver and nodded.

"All right, we'll let you go," Jim stated.

A large grin appeared on Silver's face. "Thanks, lad!" He jumped into the skiff, which he had been untying while they had been talking. "Oh, and by the way..." The cyborg reached into a pocket of his trenchcoat and tossed a large handful of gold coins and jewels at Jim's feet. "Build yerself a new hotel with that!"

Jim's eyes widened, and he reached down and snatched up the pile of treasure. When he looked up to say thanks, the skiff, Silver, and Morph were gone.

"Wow," Liz murmured, looking down at the pile of treasure in Jim's hands. "That's a lot of gold."

"He's probably got more where this came from," Jim responded. He looked at the three with him. "In fact, this might be more than enough to build a new BenBow Inn." He tossed Liz a purple, star-shaped gem, then gave Sora and Kairi a red, cross-shaped gem and a green diamond. "Get something nice for yourselves when we get back."

"Wow, thanks!" Sora quickly pocketed the gem, as did Kairi and Liz. "That was pretty generous of you."

Jim shrugged. "For helping me out, it was the least I could do."

Up above, the call rang out, "Land Ho!" The four kids, upon hearing this, grinned at each other and dashed back up to the main deck, catching sight of the Montressor Spaceport as it appeared on the horizon.

"We're almost done," Liz murmured, smiling to herself.


	31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Maria made herself comfortable on one of Whitmore's couches, a contented look on her face. Around her, Lea, Riku, Mole, and the other remaining members of the crew that had gone in search of Atlantis seated themselves wherever there was an open spot. Mr. Whitmore himself took his place in front of the fireplace, cane in one hand, a small packet of black and white pictures for his photo collection in the other.

"So, let's just go over this one more time," Whitmore stated. "What happened to Helga and Rourke?"

"Well," Cookie started, "the both of them got tossed off a zeppelin and-" He was suddenly elbowed in the side by Audrey, who was sitting between him and Maria on the couch. After letting out a cough (revealing all the golden teeth he'd had put in), the questionable chef stated, "Missin'."

"And Atlantis?" the old rich man continued.

"Never found it," Vinny stated calmly.

"And Milo?"

"He went down with the ship," Audrey responded. Maria had wanted to say something that sounded a bit nicer for the scholar's sake, but there wasn't really much she could have done in that regard - anything nicer and the press probably would have become suspicious.

Mr. Whitmore then turned to look at Maria, Riku, and Lea were sitting. "And you three were never on that submarine. Is that clear?"

"As crystal," Maria responded, motioning to the shard that hung around her neck.

Whitmore nodded in approval, then looked at the picture that was at the top of the stack while Mole (who had taken a forced bath and had since looked a little more presentable) eagerly eyed a planter that was sitting near his armchair. Maria gained a smirk on her face when the old man found the package Milo had left for his grandfather's friend - an Atlantean crystal shard, which Whitmore could keep near him at all times for the sake of his health. The teen's eyes sparkled as Whitmore slipped the leather string over his head, allowing the crystal to rest on his chest.

Just as Mole jumped into the planter and dug himself into its depths with a rather sinister cackle, a large Keyhole appeared on the painting of Whitmore that hung over the fireplace. Lea and Riku, after exchanging glances, both summoned their Keyblades and sealed the lock, thus preventing any more dark-hearted souls like Rourke from getting any Heartless to command.

"What was that?" Sweet asked, looking at the two boys.

"A sign that we must move on," Riku stated. "You probably won't see us again."

Whitmore let out a sigh. "All right, kids. Good luck, wherever you end up going."

Maria nodded in response. "Thank you, Mr. Whitmore, for letting us go on the expedition."

The old man smiled wryly. "You kids remind me of when I was your age, when adventure always seemed to be around the corner."

"It still is," Lea responded. "You just have to know what kind of adventure you're looking for." He made his way over to the elevator, the others following. "Good luck on your next adventure!"

Maria, who had been holding in any sign of emotion at this conversation, broke into a huge grin as soon as they were in the elevator. "Do you realize how prophetic that was?"

Riku gave her a curious look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Back at home, they made a sequel to the adventure we just went through. It pretty much connects Atlantean culture and myths to everything on the surface world - anything from prophecies about the end of the world to an entire pueblo city hidden in a cave within a desert. It's pretty extensive stuff, for a civilization that disappeared underwater."

Lea smirked. "And Whitmore gets involved?"

"He goes down to Atlantis with those people in his study personally," Maria confirmed. "They needed Milo and Kida badly in order to figure out what was going on in the world above."

Once the trio had reached the empty lobby, Maria looked between one of the columns at the entrance end of the hall, eyes widening upon seeing what was going on outside. "We can't go out the front way." She looked at Lea and Riku. "Do that, and we'll be in newspapers all over the world."

"Are you serious?" Lea glanced out a window, and his eyes widened. "Aw, great. What are we going to do now?"

Riku looked at Maria. "You could try that portal magic your sister conjured up."

Maria frowned slightly, but then nodded. "All right. I'll give it a try." She summoned her staff, then frowned. "But where are we going to go next? Yen Sid didn't say anything about a specific destination." Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she gripped her head with her left hand, letting out a growl of pain as she doubled over, surprising Lea and Riku.

_Yen Sid's study appeared in her mind's eye, the wizard giving Maria an impatient look._

"What's up with you?" Lea asked, looking the girl over.

"A gift from the Atlantean Crystal," Maria responded through gritted teeth. "Something about seeing what's going to happen next." She shook her head to clear out her head, the pain dissipating as she straightened. "I got a clear picture. Apparently, we're supposed to head back to the Mysterious Tower."

"Maybe Yen Sid will tell us where to go next when we get there," Riku suggested.

"Probably. Now, let's see if I can get that portal up..." Maria held her staff in front of her in a horizontal fashion, concentrating on a picture of Yen Sid's study.

For a moment, nothing happened. But then, in an explosion of light, a circular blue portal appeared out of thin air in front of them.

Maria blinked in surprise, then grinned. "There we go. Come on, guys! Let's head back to Yen Sid's place."


	32. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Maria, Lea, and Riku managed to jump through their portal just as Liz, Sora, and Kairi were coming through theirs, the sounds of a party coming along with them.

The two sisters, upon seeing each other, tackled each other in a fierce hug, grinning from ear to ear.

"How'd it go?" Liz asked as they released each other.

"Great!" Maria responded. "I've finally got a handle on my fire powers, and I actually managed to get away with a souvenir!" She lifted up the crystal that was hanging around her neck, grinning. "We only just got out of Whitmore's mansion. You?"

"We just left the party Mrs. Hawkins was throwing as a celebration for getting her inn rebuilt and Jim into the Space Cadets," Sora explained. "They didn't see us go."

"And you weren't the only one to get away with a souvenir, either," Liz added, removing the purple star gem from her pocket.

"Did everything play out as you'd expected?" Maria gave her sister a curious look, wondering how much had been changed.

"Pretty much," Liz responded. "Only, that one spider-pirate brought Heartless with him, we actually got Flint's skiff out of there in one piece - it's Jim's personal ride, now - and the Hawkins family got more gold than the mere handful Silver had thrown at Jim as he left."

Maria's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Really? That's not very much of a fluctuation, compared to what I went through. Helga got turned into a giant rat Heartless, and all the crew members that were on Rourke's side were humanoid Heartless!"

"Seriously?" Liz gave Maria a surprised look. "That's messed up."

"And it is also why you will not be allowed to continue your journey through the worlds," Yen Sid stated from his seat at his desk. "King Mickey has informed me of a sudden increase in Heartless activity, most likely because of Malificent's disappearance, your actions within her castle, and Xehanort's rising. It has become too dangerous for either of you to remain here."

Maria and Liz exchanged glances, looking surprised.

"Oh, man," Maria muttered. "I so did not see this coming, even with the new gift." She rubbed her forehead with her left hand, staff still in her right. "I suppose we have to try and go back home, right?"

"Correct," Yen Sid confirmed. "However, I'm afraid that you will not accomplish that within my domain. You must go back to the place where you arrived in this realm."

Maria and Liz exchanged glances again, then let out a groan simultaneously.

"Eternal Domain?" Liz asked. "Seriously?"

Yen Sid nodded. "It seems to me that it is the closest world to your home. You know the way. I wish you luck in your return journey."

"Thanks for letting us do this," Maria stated. "It was awesome to be able to go out and at least get through one world." She grinned at Lea. "And thanks for helping me get my powers down."

The Keyblade user grinned in return. "Make sure you swing by when you get stronger - maybe you can surpass me."

Maria smirked. "We'll see about that."

"And make sure the power doesn't go to your head," Riku added.

The smirk faded from Maria's face, and she nodded seriously. "Right. 'With great power comes great responsibility,' as a Marvel Kingdom member once said." She looked over at Sora. "Keep your skills sharp. Those Heartless aren't going to roll over and play dead, especially the ones I saw."

Sora nodded. "Don't worry; those Heartless aren't going to stop me." He gave Maria and Liz a thumbs-up, then turned his attention to the others. "Come on, guys - let's go train!" They dashed out of the study, an eager look on Sora's face, leaving Maria and Liz behind.

Liz gave Maria a weird look, but said nothing concerning what had just occurred. Instead, she created a portal with a flick of her sword, and the two girls stepped through.


	33. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"Wow," Maria remarked, looking around Malificent's castle. "This place has seen better days."

Liz nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's because of what we did to Malificent?" she questioned.

"Probably."

The black castle was beginning to fall apart. The spires were beginning to collapse, walls had been broken in, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. The dust caused Maria the most worry.

"It looks like we've been away from this place...for _months_," the teen stated, casting a sideways glance in her sister's direction.

Liz shrugged. "Well, yeah. So?"

"So, we've spent a lot of time here. What if, when we get back, it turns out we've been gone for the same amount of time? Mom and Dad are probably worried sick!"

Liz frowned. "Yeah, they probably are. But we can't really think about that right now - let's just try to get home first."

The two walked into the citadel, careful to avoid the rotting areas of the drawbridge, which had been put down and left down after Liz's, Riku's, Goofy's, and Donald's invasion of the place. Within, the entire castle was as silent as a grave, unnerving Maria.

"So, where do you think would be the best place to head back?" Maria asked, her eyes scanning the walls in search of anyone - or anything - that might jump out and attack.

"Probably where we came in," Liz responded. "Malificent's throne room. Or, what's left of it."

It took the two some time to find the cavernous room that Malificent had once sat in, since some of the passageways had collapsed from disrepair, and there was the occasional large gap in the road. When they arrived at the throne room, Maria took note that the ceiling had been torn down, and the smudge that had been where Malificent had been slain was still as bold as it had been the day it happened.

Maria glared at the stain on the floor, then turned her attention fully to her sister. "You ready to do this?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. Let's go home."

The two girls summoned their sword and staff, then faced the throne above them, not noticing the figure that was coming at them from behind...


	34. Epilogue

Epilogue

Maria opened her eyes slowly, then jolted completely awake at the sight of her bedroom ceiling. Frowning at it, the teen recalled that she had been in Malificent's castle just a few moments ago, and she wondered at how she had managed to appear in her bed without any memory of opening the portal. Maria's eyes then widened as she recalled what had happened.

"Next time I see Pete, I'm going to make him pay for hitting me in the head without warning," the teen muttered, recalling the cat's sneak attack on her and Liz.

Below, in her bunk, Liz let out a moan. "Stop talking."

Maria peered over the edge of her bed and looked down at her sister. "He hit you, too? I hope he didn't give either of us a concussion."

Liz glared up at her sister, who found it odd that Liz was in her pajamas, rather than the clothes they had been wearing when they went through the portal. "What are you talking about? _You_ hit _me."_

Her older sister was dumbstruck. "I can't hit _that_ hard, and you know I'd never hit you in the head."

"Yeah, well, you still did!"

Maria frowned. "Did not! That was Pete - you know, Malificent's minion? From the _Kingdom Hearts_ video games?"

Liz's glare intensified. "He can't do that! He's just a cartoon character, remember? You probably just had a dream or something."

Maria's frown intensified, as well, and she leaned back against the headboard of her bed. "Was it all a dream?" she murmured. The teen looked herself over. "My clothes haven't changed...but then again, I've worn my clothes to bed sometimes." A soft, blue glow under her red shirt caught her attention, and she peered under the collar of her shirt. A grin came across her face, and she started to grip the object, only pause and frown.

"She'd probably put it off as a mere light-up toy," she muttered. Maria then peered down at Liz again, and, upon seeing that her sister had fallen asleep, then teen slipped out of her bed and jumped to the floor, the resulting thud causing Liz to whine and turn in her sleep. Maria, after letting out a sigh of relief at not waking her sister, turned to the door and walked out of the bedroom.

To Maria's surprise, the rest of the house was quiet, even though there was sunlight coming through every possible window. Maria cautiously made her way to the kitchen, pausing occasionally to look into her parents' and brothers' bedrooms, only to find the beds neatly made with no one sleeping in or on them.

"They're probably reading or playing video games with the sound off downstairs," Maria muttered as she neared the spiral staircase. The teen made her way down and entered the family room...where she was confronted by a woman with frizzy black hair and green eyes, wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.

"Hi, Mom," Maria greeted with a nervous smile. "Where is everybody?"

"Dad took the boys out to GameStop," the woman replied, looking her daughter over. "You and Liz have some explaining to do, young lady."

Maria let out a sigh. "Yeah, I can guess. How long were we gone?"

"Two days," her mother stated flatly. "When your father and I found that you and Liz were gone without a trace, we told the boys you both had a stomach bug and couldn't be disturbed."

Maria looked surprised. "Two days? Honestly, it felt like longer. Like, weeks." Her hand automatically reached for the glowing area of her shirt, just to make sure it was still there. Her mother noticed.

"What's that?" her mother inquired, frowning.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," Maria stated. Taking note of her mother's glare, she let out a sigh, and removed the Atlantean Crystal from its hiding place. "Liz and I were kidnapped at about six in the morning two days ago by Pete - you know, Mickey Mouse's enemy. He took us to Malificent's castle, where she knocked us out after we had insulted her. Liz managed to escape and return with backup in the form of Donald, Goofy, and Riku, who are characters in a video game associated with Disney characters. They got me out of Malificent's castle, taking out the evil sorceress in the process. After that, the two of us split up and traveled to a couple different worlds to test our skills. That's where I got this - the world I went to had the Lost City of Atlantis. Anyway, the two of is had to go back to Malificent's castle to open a portal that would allow us to return home. Pete showed up again and hit us both on or heads just as we were going through the portal. Next thing I knew, I was back in bed and Liz was claiming that she didn't remember anything. And that I had been the one to hit her on the head."

Maria's mother was dumbstruck at what her daughter was saying.

Maria, taking note of the look, shrugged. "If you don't believe me, I don't blame you."

"But I _do_ believe you."

The teen stared at her mother. "Now _that_ I find hard to believe."

Her mother smiled. "I believe you, because your father and I went though the same sort of situation."

Maria was astonished. "Truly?"

"Yes. However, we didn't exactly volunteer to go. When you two disappeared..."

"...You figured that something around those lines had happened and you covered our tracks," Maria finished. "But, why? Didn't you consider talking to the police?"

Maria's mother nodded. "We considered that, but we decided that we would do it only when others began to disappear, as well."

Maria couldn't help but give her a curious look. "You should tell me about what you and Dad went through sometime. When's he getting back, anyway?"

"About half an hour or so."

The teen nodded. "I'll be in the game room, then." Maria then turned and walked off, a smile on her face. Just before she entered the game room (which was on the other side of the family room), Maria turned and looked back at her mother. "Did you...exhibit any sort of abilities when you were traveling?"

Her mother shook her head. "No; why?"

Maria frowned in concentration, then managed to summon her staff, causing her mother's eyes to widen. "This is why. Both Liz and I exhibited abilities like those of mystics, and it hasn't left me. If the powers weren't passed down, then there must be some other qualification that the two of us had. Since we were taken to the Disney Kingdom, it was probably something to do with who we are."

Maria's mother frowned, then shrugged. "That could be, but we'll never know for sure, now will we?"

"Yeah, that's true. And then there's what the Crystal told me."

"What did it tell you?"

"It said that I'd had some sort...tough past or something." Maria frowned in confusion. "And I don't really remember having anything _troubling_ in my past, much less as adventurous as what I went through." She gave her mother a curious look. "Do you think I ended up traveling with you guys, and ended up suffering from memory loss like Liz?"

Maria's mother's frown deepened, and she shook her head. "No, definitely not. Whatever is going on, it had nothing to do with what my husband and I went through."

Maria frowned, as well, then let out a sigh. "Maybe I'll figure it out someday." With that, she walked into the game room, staff in hand.

As she hooked up the Wii to the TV, she paused, a strange feeling entering her stomach. A moment later, her vision changed from the TV screen to a black landscape...

_The entire world was black - the trees, the rocks, the sky - everything as far as the eye could see. There was no sound, either, other than that which could be called "white noise."_

_Suddenly, the sound of pattering feet caught Maria's attention, and her head turned in order to find the source. A green figure came into view, lizard-like in appearance, with a green leaf on his head. Thanks to Maria's experience with video games, she knew the creature was the Pokemon Grovyle._

_The creature was running at a high speed, a determined look on the Grass-Type's face. Maria could hear something coming up behind it, but the Pokemon never bothered to look back; perhaps the creature had been chased before. Maria strained her ears, hoping to hear something more, but she didn't._

As Maria's vision cleared, a feeling generated in her gut as "Pokemon Battle Revolution" appeared on the TV screen. "Something tells me my adventures are only getting started..."

**Line Break. Ignore me.**

Mrs. Carlsdale watched as Maria disappeared into the game room. As soon as the door was shut, the woman let out a breath she didn't realize that she had been holding, and she leaned against a wall, using her left hand as a support for her head. "Our past is catching up with us..."

**The End...?**

Well, there you have it! It appears that Maria will be traveling to another world soon, and I'm sure that you can all guess where she's heading to next. And what sort of past is Maria's mother (aka Mrs. Carlsdale) referring to? I'm leaving all this for the following story series to tell. Until next time!


End file.
